Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament – Quarterfinal Preview

2021 CCAC Tournament Bracket

Opening Round

February 23rd

No. 9 seed Trinity International 97, at No. 8 seed St. Francis 90

No. 4 seed Saint Xavier 71, No. 13 seed Cardinal Stritch 62

No. 5 seed Governors State 67, No. 12 seed Judson 60

No. 15 seed Indiana South Bend 67, at No. 2 seed Holy Cross 66

No. 7 seed Lincoln 66, No. 10 seed Roosevelt 60

No. 3 seed St. Ambrose 82, No. 14 seed Calumet St. Joseph 46

No. 11 seed Indiana Northwest 88, at No. 6 seed Trinity Christian 63

Quarterfinals

February 25th

No. 9 seed Trinity International (10-7) at No. 1 seed Olivet Nazarene (13-3) — 7:30 pm Live Video

No. 5 seed Governors State (1010) at No. 4 seed Saint Xavier (9-8) — 7 pm Live Video

No. 15 Indiana South Bend (3-0) at No. 7 seed Lincoln (9-9) — 6 pm Live Video

No. 11 seed Indiana Northwest (6-8) at No. 3 seed St. Ambrose (15-5) — 7 pm Live Video

Semifinals

February 27th

Finals

March 1st

Championship Game @ Top Remaining Seed

League Notes:

The top seed: Olivet Nazarene
NAIA Locks: Clinched: Olivet Nazarene (CCAC Regular Season Champion), Clinched: Holy Cross (CCAC Runner Up)
NAIA Bubble Teams: St Ambrose
Best chances to win this tournament: Olivet Nazarene (13-3,12-1), St. Ambrose (14-5,9-3)
Possible sleeper: Trinity Christian (9-8,6-4) – Eliminated

KEY PLAYERS:

Alex Gross 6’9 – Olivet Nazarene: 27.3ppg, 4.1rpg, 3.2apg

Turner heads into the AAC Tourney as the Nations 2nd leading scorer. He is one of the best shooters in the NAIA and has lit up the AAC this season. Despite Union not winning as many games, Turner should still be the AAC Player of the Year.

Brandon Lawani 6’7 – Trinity International: 24.7ppg, 6.6rpg, 3.7apg

Lawani went for a 12pt, 13reb double-double in the opening round. It was McQueen for TIU who went off for 40pts to cross the 1k pt scoring mark. Lawani though is so good and he has a fun matchup tonight with Alex Gross!

KEY TEAMS:

#1 Olivet Nazarene – This ONU team is rolling right now with 10 straight wins headed into the CCAC Tournament. They will get a 1st round bye, so should be well rested. They have already qualified for the National Tournament, but now will try to improve seeding!

#2 Holy Cross – Lost in the 1st round to 15-seed IU South Bend..

#3 Saint Ambrose – They have the size to compete with anyone and when they are hitting 3’s they are tough to beat. They have 3 chances to qualify for the NAIA National Tournament, all they need to do is hope that ONU or Holy Cross wins the CCAC Title if they aren’t able to do it themselves.

UPSET SPECIAL:

#6 Trinity Chrisitian – Our upset special team lost in the 1st round.

Quarterfinal Game Notes

No. 9 seed Trinity International (10-7) at No. 1 seed Olivet Nazarene (13-3) — 7:30 pm Live Video

ONU 1-0

Alex Gross and Brandon Lawani on the floor against one another tonight? Sign. Us. Up!! Should be a fun battle between to of the best players in the CCAC. ONU got a 1st round bye and have already qualified for the NAIA National Tournament, but we expect this Tiger team to still play motivated basketball.

No. 5 seed Governors State (1010) at No. 4 seed Saint Xavier (9-8) — 7 pm Live Video
St Xavier 1-0

Saint Xavier defeated Governors State by 17 back in mid-January. St Xavier has won 6 of it’s last 8 games coming into the tournament while Governors State has won 7 of 9. This should be a really good and fun game!

No. 15 Indiana South Bend (3-0) at No. 7 seed Lincoln (9-9) — 6 pm Live Video

No regular season matchup

This IU South Bend team is now 3-0 on the season and is coming off of an upset of the 2-seed Holy Cross. Lincoln, for the most part, has really slowed the tempo down from last season. This game could be a real grind it out type of game.

No. 11 seed Indiana Northwest (6-8) at No. 3 seed St. Ambrose (15-5) — 7 pm Live Video

St Ambrose 1-0

The Bees of St Ambrose have won 4 straight games coming in. With the CCAC being a 3-bid league, they can lock up a National Tournament bid by winning the tournament or by ONU winning it. The Bees will try to control their own destiny though instead of having to count on others. IU Northwest got the upset over the 6-seed Trinity Christian in the opening round. They will look to make it two upsets in a row today!

OTHER NOTES:

CCAC Tournament Page

– CCAC has (3) auto-bids: Olivet Nazarene, Holy Cross and Tournament Champion or St Ambrose if it’s ONU wins Tournament.

– Best Quarterfinal Game: #9 Trinity International @ #1 Olivet Nazarene.

– Our Pick To Win It: Olivet Nazarene – We need to stop picking #1 seeds to win the tournaments, but this ONU team only has one CCAC loss on the season and are the heavy favorites! Just think that Alex Gross and John Content get it done in the tournament. This is a Tiger team that has improved all season long and is just clicking at the right time of the year.