CUMBERLAND--The Allegany College Trojans used some outstanding defense and rebounding to take a giant step toward going back to Kansas for the NJCAA National Tournament as the nation's No. 1 ranked junior college team defeated host Hagerstown Junior College 82-66 for the Region XX Division title Sunday evening.

The Trojans lifted their record to 30-1 with their 28th straight win and advanced to the four-team District 3 tournament that will be staged Friday and Saturday at Champlain College in Burlington, Vt. Allegany's first-round opponent was not known Sunday.

Sophomore center Terrell McKelvy was playing like an NJCAA championship ring was in the ball and he wasn't going to let it get away as he claimed Most Valuable Player honors after hauling down a season-high 23 rebounds along with scoring 14 points.

All five Allegany starters scored in double figures with Quincy Gause getting 21, Mike Renfro 15, and Michael Horton and Recus Nix 13 each. Renfro and Horton joined McKelvy on the all-tournament team.

A crowd estimated at nearly 2,500 was on hand in the spacious Hagerstown ARCC and at least three quarters of the fans were cheering for Allegany in the host Hawks own house.

"This was another great win for our fans and they certainly were a key to our success," said Allegany coach Bob Kirk who has directed the Trojans to 11 region titles. "It's unbelievable that many people would come to Hagerstown to see us play and that great support is why we can have one of the top programs in the country."

The Trojans had beaten Hagerstown 100-79 to claim the Maryland JUCO Conference championship last week in Cumberland, but needed overtime to defeat the Hawks 98-94 in their first meeting in the Hub City.

Playing in the region tournament brings out the best in McKelvy. The 6-8 sophomore from Marion, S.C., played for Spartanburg (S.C.) Methodist last season and was named the MVP in the Region X tournament after leading the Pioneers to the championship and a berth in the National Tournament in Hutchinson, Kan.

"It's tournament time and I want to go to Kansas," said McKelvy after picking up his MVP award. "I want that ring this time. It's time to play hard and keep winning."

"Terrell McKelvy had his best game since he has been here and Michael Horton also had a great game," said Kirk. "But this was a total team effort and everybody contributed a lot."

Allegany got off to a strong start defensively, but was struggling on offense and led 12-5 after a sloppily played first nine minutes by both teams.

Devon Wade, who finished with a game-high 23 points, then started hitting everything he shot. The 6-8 freshman hit a pair of three-pointers to bring the Hawks within three points at 14-11 and his turn-around jumper gave them a 20-18 lead at the 5:45 mark.

Back-to-back three-pointers by Ryan Saunders and Brian Samuels had Hagerstown ahead 30-22 with 2:50 left in the half that ended with the Hawks on top 33-29. Wade had 16 points before the break.

"I told everybody at halftime that it was just like being 0-0," said Horton. "We are No. 1 in the nation and we had to go out and play like the No. 1 team. It came down to who wanted it more and we just wanted it more than they did."

Not hitting from the perimeter, the Trojans started getting the ball inside in the second half along with dominating the boards.

Two inside shots by Nix quickly tied the game at 33. Another turn-round jumper by Wade gave Hagerstown its last lead at 35-33. Horton then came up with a three-point play after a steal to start a string of eight unanswered points that had Allegany ahead 41-35.

Hagerstown got within five points at 53-48 with 7:15 on the clock when McKelvy came up with a play that brought the Allegany fans to their feet and probably broke the Hawks' backs. After a miss by Horton, the 6-8 center grabbed the rebound with one hand and slammed down the dunk in the same motion.

Gause followed with a pair of dunks on passes from Horton and a McKelvy foul shot made it 60-48 at the 5:32 mark. Hagerstown got back to within seven points at 64-57 with three minutes left, but a McKelvy layup and two Renfro foul shots made it 68-57 at the two-minute mark. A dunk by Gause at the buzzer put an exclamation mark on the win."

"We started out playing good defense and then relaxed a little and they hit some threes," said Kirk. "At halftime I convinced our players to get the ball inside which is where we are stronger than them. We played great defense and rebounded better in the second half."

James Morse and Saunders had 11 points each for Hagerstown, which finished with a 23-9 record. Morse and Wade were named to the all-tournament team along with Steve Menifee of Mount Aloysius.

"Allegany played a great second half and showed why they are the No. 1 team in the nation," said Hagerstown coach Jim Brown. "Bob (Kirk) got them settled in the second half and they controlled the game. Their rebounding killed us and they got so many second shots."