If you haven’t heard yet, the games are all now free on the NAIA YouTube Channel. Of course, the Title game will be on ESPN3, but I am glad that the NAIA has made the games free again, so more people can watch the great product that is put out on the floor!

General Thoughts

• College of Idaho with five straight games of being up by 20pts, inside of Muni, is pretty impressive!
• The NAIA always has some really great smaller guards! The Samaje Morgan (CoI) vs Isaac Anderson (Madonna) matchup was a fun one all game long! Both players are little ball hawks who are skilled and just leave it all on the court!
• The Langston vs IWU game is going to be a WAR with a lot of talent on the floor!
• Morningside is tough and that game vs College of Idaho tomorrow is going to be a lot of fun! Two teams that shoot the 3 and crash the glass with the best of them!
• Another fun Sophomore to keep an eye on, Anthony Johnson, of Cumberlands!

Recap

• Game 1: No. 1 Langston defeated No. 12 LSU Shreveport, 78-61…(Box Score)
  • Langston showed off why they have been a Top 3 team all year long! Size, talent and defend the crap out of you! Toru Dean is probably the most underrated PG in the country. Anthony Roy and Cortez Mosley are real problems!
  • LSU Shreveport is really talented as well. Coach Blankenship always does such a great job of reloading the Pilots and getting them bought in. Fun group that just ran out of juice against a talented Langston team.

• Game 2: No. 2 Indiana Wesleyan defeated Arizona Christian, 84-73…(Box Score)
  • Indiana Wesleyan’s dynamic duo of Griffin Kliewer and Javan Buchanan combined for 50 of IWU’s 84pts. The two really put on a show in the 2nd half. Both can hurt you from multiple spots on the floor! Nathan Childress really put the Wildcats on his back in the first half as he was all over the place making plays. The Freshman Caedmon Bontrager finished with 11pts and 6rebs in his first game inside Muni!
  • Arizona Christian kept pace for most of the game, but the late IWU run did them in. Trent Hudgens was really special with 22pts. Mikah Blackwell and Dennis Flowers III also had good games. The Firestorm lose a lot, but Coach Rutter and staff are so good at reloading!
• Game 3: No. 1 College of Idaho defeated No. 5 Madonna, 87-65..(Box Score)
  • For College of Idaho, it was the Drew Wyman show early as he helped the Yotes get out to a fast start! He also hit a couple big shots to spark the 2nd half run. The Yotes though, win because of their balance, their defense and their ability to just pound the offensive glass! They did that again tonight to advance to the NAIA Quarterfinals!
  • Madonna had a great year! This team did things that no other team in Madonna history had done! Isaac Anderson is so fun to watch. The kid just flat competes. The Crusaders will have some great pieces to build around next year in Brendan Young and Anderson. Big man, Matthew MacLellan is also back along with DEEP ball threats, Ethan Emerzian and Sho-Ron Graham.
• Game 4: No. 3 Morningside defeated No. 2 Cumberlands,….(Box Score)
  • The Top 2 scorers left in the tourney, Ely Doble did Ely Doble things as he finished with a game high 29pts to help the Mustangs advance to the NAIA Quarterfinals! The Mustangs controlled most of the game and hit timely threes any time Cumberlands made a run.
  • Cumberlands showed a lot of fight, but just couldn’t quite get over the hump to gain control of the game and a lot of that was their inability to find any rhythm from deep, going just 4-23 (17%) from 3 They lose MSC POY, Jonathan Brown and will have to see what JJ Ramey wants to do, but another team that returns a lot for next year!