A new Top 25 Coaches Poll will be out today! Crazy to think, but there will just be 1 poll left of the season after today’s is released. It’s a fun time of year, but it can also be a sad time for many. We have Seniors throughout the NAIA, that will be playing their last two weeks of their careers. It is crazy to think of some of the household names across the NAIA who’s careers are winding down. While we wish they could all end with a National Title, the reality of it is that most of these kids careers will end with a loss. However, this is also a time of year where we see Seniors completely taking over games and carrying their teams to big tournament runs. That extra drive within them always makes for some fun stories this time of year. It is why you see upsets in conference tournaments. It is why you see lower seeds make big runs at the national tournament! We wish everyone the best of luck as we enter the final week of the regular season and start turning to postseason play!
Tuesday Recaps
- Games of the Day
- No. 24 Marian gets their largest win in series history against No. 16 Saint Francis (IN), beating them 101-70. (Recap) The win moves them ahead of St Francis for 2nd place in the Crossroads League. You can watch the highlights of last nights game here:
- Union went on the road and defeated Tennessee Wesleyan 85-80. (Recap) The win was even bigger with Montreat dropping one against Kentucky Christian it gives the Bulldogs a 2 game lead now in the AAC Standings.
- Other Notable Games
- Huntington went to Luckey Arena and defeated No. 5 Indiana Wesleyan, 100-90. (Recap) The game won’t be reflected in the new NAIA Coaches Top 25 tomorrow, but the win snapped IWU’s 23 game Crossroads League win streak and, for the moment, keeps Marian 3 games back with 3 to play. IWU has already clinched a share of the CL Title and owns the tie-breakers, so will be the 1-seed and have home court advantage in the CL Tournament.
- Both IU Kokomo and Missouri Baptist extended their win streaks. IU Kokomo defeated Oakland City 64-48 (Recap) to run their streak to 12 games. Missouri Baptist defeated Williams Baptist, 96-71 (Recap), to run their win streak to 13 straight games.
- Wiley gets a huge RRAC win tonight, taking down rv Texas A&M Texarkana last night 62-58. (Recap)
- rv Oregon Tech was able to fend off rival Southern Oregon for a big 71-67 win. The Owls are a half game up for 1st place in the Cascade. (Recap)
- Women’s Game of the Day
- Midway extends lead in the River States West to 3 games with a win over Alice Lloyd. Midway will be the RSC West 1-seed. (Recap)
- Other Notable Games
- No. 14 Bryan continues their dominance of the AAC with a 100-62 win over Point. (Recap)
- No. 23 Lewis-Clark State women tied their single game 3pt record last night making 19 3’s on their way to a 92-40 win over Walla Walla. (Recap)
- Bit of an upset in The Sun Conference last night as Ave Maria, who is fighting to make the conference tournament, knocked off 2nd place Florida Memorial 71-70 in OT. (Recap) The two will play again tomorrow night.
- Milestones/Records
- Big Congrats to Union’s Brooke Hammonds. She adds another milestone to her great career. This time in the form of now being a 2,000pt scorer!
- Shiloah Blevins of Rio Grande, joined the 1k club last night!
- Loyola’s Manager, Sam Ater, got his first career basket last night!
