Happy last day of 2024! Hope everyone has a fun and safe New Years!
12:30PM | Lawrence Tech vs Trinity Christian
We had Trinity highlighted yesterday as well, but with such few games today you are going to see some repeats. The Trolls were, unfortunately, without the services of Marcus Johnson (leads the NAIA in scoring) yesterday, but still hung tough with Rochester Christian. Chris Cross and company will need another big game today to knock off a tough Lawrence Tech team, who currently finds themselves in 2nd place in the WHAC! Tech was led by Andrew Rinn, who unfortunately went down with an injury and is out for the season, leaving Jimmy Salamone and company to pick up the slack! They have done so to this point! Both teams play at a very similar pace, but Lawrence Tech loves to let it fly from deep as they lead the NAIA in 3pt attempts per game (33.8), 3pt made per game (12.4), and 3pt % (40.9)on the season! The Trolls will need to guard the 3pt line today!
1pm CT | McPherson (KS) @ RV St. Francis (IL)
McPherson jumped out to a 15pt halftime lead yesterday vs St. Xavier (IL), however SXU controlled the pace of play in the 2nd Half, scoring 82pts in the final 20minutes to come back and beat McPherson. St. Francis, isn’t going to play at that speed and tempo, but man do we love the trio of Rhamel Davis, Aitor Anabitarte and Merrick Small. They carry most of the heavy lifting for the Fighting Saints, who are off to a 9-2 start. As we have mentioned a few times, Aitor being back healthy this season, is a huge boost to the Fighting Saints! For McPherson, it will be interesting to see if Collin Storr can return to this game or not. He left yesterday’s game early with an apparent injury. He currently leads the Bulldogs in both pts and rebounds!
3pm CT | No. 21 Keiser @ No. 3 Freed-Hardeman
Nothing like ending 2024 with a Top 25 matchup! Really looking forward to this game as we have two NPOY candidates in Peyton Law (FHU) and Vincent Miszkiewicz (Keiser) who will be squaring off! This game also features two tough, young guards in Jayson Nixon (FHU) and Bobo Sirmans (Keiser)! I could keep going with this matchup as there is plenty of talent on the floor! The defending National Champs, get home court advantage here and they have really got their championship defense that we saw last year locked back in! Keiser though, if you have paid attention to our weekly reviews, is one of the top defensive teams in the NAIA! They rank Top 10 in nearly every category. With both teams also being two of the top rebounding teams in the NAIA, this game SHOULD be a defensive battle with an absolute war going on in around the paint for rebounds!
7pm CT | Madonna (MI) vs No. 22 Indiana Wesleyan
This is a neutral floor game, being played inside of Gainbridge Fieldhouse, home of the Indiana Pacers! This may not be the Top 25 matchup, we thought it would be to start the season, but don’t let that steer you away from watching this one! Madonna, coming off of a trip to the NAIA Round of 16 last season, didn’t start the season off like they had hoped. However, they have now won 5 of their last 6 games including wins over a good Spring Arbor team and a WHAC matchup with Rochester Christian! Madonna leads the WHAC in PPG at 87.7 and are led by vets, Brendan Young and Isaac Anderson! IWU comes into this game as winners of 4-straight games. The Wildcats are 2nd in the Crossroads League in PPG with 88.8 and are led by Sophomore Caedmon Bontrager! What continues to make them good though, is that they can hurt you from both the inside and out. We will see if Luke Brown makes a return to the rotation today or not, as he has been out a few games now. Also most likely see the debut of Antelope Valley transfer, Bright Kari today as well! A lot to like in this game, but also what a fun experience for both teams this evening, as they end 2024 playing on the Pacers home floor!
