The Daily Dive is your deep dive into the news and notes from around the NAIA Hoops World. Every day we will highlight some of the top headlines, conference updates, player accolades, coaching milestones and more. This used to be our Morning Bullet Points series. We went away from it this year, as others were doing similar things and we didn’t want to step on any toes. At the request of many, we have elected to bring it back for the second half of the season. Feel free to DM us on Twitter (@NAIAHoopsReport) or send an email to naiahoopsreport@gmail.com to recommend stories to be included into this segment.
– We have been digging up info on what the 48-Team National Tournament will look like for this season. We don’t have all of the details, but are starting to piece it all together. We are still working hard to verify everything with ARC’s, RPI’s, SoS’s and how National Rankings work itself into the seeding picture. Once we are able to clear some things up, we will try to get an article out on it!
Recap of Yesterday’s Games of the Day:
Indiana Tech 66 @ Lourdes 95 (Full Recap)
Clif Snow of Lourdes continues to be so good! Snow dropped a game high 25pts on his way to tying the school record for points in a career. Lourdes torched the nets last night making 11 3’s at 52%. They used a 17-2 run late in the 1st half to go up 19 and were able to maintain that lead in the 2nd half. Former NBA player Dennis Hopson has done such a great job coaching Lourdes.
Grace 74 @ 18 Marian 82 (Full Recap)
Marian was able to pull out the much needed home win last night over a competitive Grace group. Coming off a stretch where they lost 3 of their past 4 games, Marian turned to their studs Christian Stewart and Cam Wolter and both produced! Stewart and Wolter combined for 32pts and 19rebs to lead the way for Marian!
RV Jamestown 76 @ 9 Morningside 67 (Full Recap)
The Jamestown Jimmies pulled off the season sweep of Morningside last night in what was their 2nd win over a Top 15 team in the past week. We said this game would be a battle of the BIGS, but Alante Pickens had other ideas as the Jimmies PG dropped 21 points in the win. To be fair, both BIGS had monster games. Mason Walters (Jamestown) finished with just 9pts but 21 rebounds!!! Trey Brown of Morningside finished with 21pts and 18rebs in the loss.
Other Notable Scores:
– The young Huntington Foresters, led by 1st year Head Coach Kory Alford, take down #11 Bethel (IN) 110-98!
– Westmont avenged their loss from the night before to Saint Katherine. The Warriors won 117-103 in what was Coach Landon Boucher’s 1st win as Head Coach!
Shout Outs:
A lot of cool milestones and big performances last night! Congratulations to everyone!
New Top 25 Coaches Poll:
– ICYMI here is the new NAIA Top 25
– As we do work our way through what the National Tournament picture looks like, the River States League made an announcement on their Conference Tournament:
A lot more work for us ahead on trying to figure out how the National Tournament will be structured, but we look forward to continuing to bring you the best NAIA Hoops coverage around!
