Winston shines as North tops South in NJCAA All-Star Game

Winston used the 6th annual NJCAA Men’s Basketball Coaches Association All-Star Game as a national-stage audition, helping the North top the South 79-73 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The sophomore finished with 10 points and six rebounds, a line that stood out because it came in a game loaded with elite junior college talent rather than in empty possessions.

Winston’s scoring was efficient and varied. He hit 2 of 4 shots from beyond the arc and went 4-for-6 at the free throw line, then added two offensive rebounds and four defensive rebounds. That split mattered in a showcase setting where every possession was valuable, and it showed he could contribute without needing the offense built entirely around him.

The North’s win also placed Winston in strong company on the stat sheet. Chioke Marshall of SUNY Niagara poured in a game-high 32 points and finished as the North’s leading scorer, leaving Winston as the team’s second-leading scorer in a matchup that featured 26 players selected from NJCAA Divisions I, II and III. Of those 26 selections, 22 had already earned 2026 NJCAA All-American honors, including 10 First Team All-Americans, which made the event feel less like an exhibition and more like a final test against players already recognized among the nation’s best.

That is what gives Winston’s performance extra weight in the NJCAA exposure pipeline. The NJCAA publishes division-specific All-America teams each spring, and the association identifies itself as the governing body for junior college athletics, so an all-star invitation arrives as a marker of status and a chance to reinforce it. In that environment, Winston’s mix of perimeter shooting, free-throw production and rebounding offered the kind of portable traits that translate most clearly to the next level: he did not need a high-volume night to look ready for stronger competition.