- Good Morning NAIA Hoops Nation!! A lot of action from yesterday’s games will make this a bit of a longer Morning Bullet Points feature. We will start with a recap of our circled games from yesterday.
- Our first NAIA DI game we had circled from yesterday did NOT disappoint as RV Central Baptist got a tough 69-68 AMC road win against Harris-Stowe. HSSU was up 14 early in the first half, but Central Baptist went on a run to only be down 2 at half. Harris-Stowe missed a shot at the buzzer for the win. HSSU was led by double-double machine Deshaun Munson with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Darius Polley had a game high 24 points for Central Baptist in the win. You can read the full story HERE. BOX SCORE
- #8 Providence (MT) won 90-74 as Head Coach Steve Keller and All-American Zachheus Darko-Kelly got the big win against their old school. Darko-Kelly led the way for the Argos with 23 points. You can read the full story HERE. BOX SCORE
- #22 Westmont (CA) and #10 Arizona Christian was another fun one to watch as Westmont won the game 70-69. ACU had a tough week as they lost to two Top 25 programs. Westmont stayed undefeated with the win. You can read the full story HERE. BOX SCORE
- Our last DI circled game came from the Heart of America, as a good Clarke (IA) team hit the road against Peru St. (NE). Clarke is better then their 6-5 record, and proved it with a big 97-83 road win over Peru State. Keith Johnson, scored 27 points in the win. BOX SCORE
- In our first DII Circled Game #20 Saint Ambrose (IA) got a good road 73-70 road win against a pesky Governors St (IL) team in CCAC play. Saint Ambrose got all they could handle in the first half as they trailed by 6 points at the break. They opened up the 2nd half on a BIG run to go up 10, and the game went down to the wire, but St. Ambrose held tight and brought home the win behind John Kerr’s 16 point, 9 rebounds. Kerr also surpassed the 1,000 career points mark in the win. FULL STORY BOX SCORE
- With all of the great teams in the Crossroads League, there are great games every night. #4 Mount Vernon Nazarene and #7 Spring Arbor lived up to the hype as MVNU battled back from down 11 in the 2nd half to win 77-76 in OT. Spring Arbor has been in a ton of close games this year already, but couldn’t hold on to win this one. All-American Paul Marandet scored a game high 31 for SAU, while Austin Jones led MVNU with 21 points. You can read the full story HERE. BOX SCORE
- The other Crossroads game we had circled wasn’t as close as #3 Indiana Wesleyan ran away with a 96-75 win over #10 Marian. The Wildcats were once again led by Player of the Year candidate Kyle Mangas with 18 points. Congrats to IWU Head Coach Greg Tonagel who picked up his 400th Career win! FULL STORY BOX SCORE
- Our Sun Conference game we had circled was a good one, as Southeastern (FL) went on the road to knock off #18 Warner by a score of 89-82. It was a tie game with just under 10 minutes left in the game before Southeastern went on a mini run to go up 8. From there they used the FT line to hold on for the win. Blake Morrow paced the Fire with 20 points in the win. FULL STORY BOX SCORE
- #2 Morningside got a 81-72 crosstown win against Briar Cliff. With Oregon Tech losing late last night, the win should slide Morningside into #1 when the official rankings come out on Wednesday. Morningside was led by Trey Brown’s 26 points in the win. Jackson Lamb had a game high 38 points for Briar Cliff. FULL STORY BOX SCORE
- We had another 1,000 point scorer last night as well, as Christian Rodriguez of Cornerstone (MI) hit the milestone in the 2H of their game yesterday.
- Just another reminder that NAIA hoopers can hoop:
- Wayland Baptist also got a nice exhibition win over NCAA D2 Eastern New Mexico last night
- Our Top 25 Polls will be released tonight! We always like to get them out the Sunday before the NAIA official polls.
- Have a BLESSED Sunday!
