Top Games
4:30pm CT | No. 2 Freed-Hardeman (TN) @ RV Cumberlands (KY)
This starts off a big week for Freed as they hit the road to face a Cumberlands team, who was ranked as high as Top 10 and who are now back to playing good basketball! Then they finish off the week on Saturday by hitting the road again, to face off against No. 1 Georgetown! Obviously two tough road games, but this is a FHU team who, earlier this season, played in two Holiday Classics in the same week with the Battle at the Beach and the NAIA The Show. For tonight, FHU comes in on a 12-game win streak. They are led by Peyton Law and Makai Vassell but are a deep team who gets contributions from nearly everyone! The defensive side of the floor is what helped the Lions win a National Title last season and this is a team who has been locked in defensively since the Battle at the Beach, as they sit 15th in DEF/EFF Rating. The Lions are also 14th in NET EFF on the year. For Cumberlands, they come into this game on a 3-game win streak. The Patriots are also 6-1 at home on the season. They are the highest scoring team in the Mid-South at 95.1ppg. They are led by Anthony Johnson and Mattew Comer but have certainly had big games from others including a 22pt outing by Robertas Jonaitis in their first MSC game. With both teams playing at good pace, it’s going to come down to who can get the critical stops throughout the game. Freed has a tendency to make things ugly in big games this season, by turning the game into FT contests; i.e. Arizona Christian (70 FT’s), LSU Alexandria (FHU show 32 FT’s alone), Tougaloo (50 FT’s), Keiser (53 FT’s) CBC (53 and 43 FT’s) and Life (47 FT’s). The good news for FHU is that they shoot over 70% from the charity stripe!
7:30pm CT | No. 15 Central Baptist (AR)@ Columbia (MO)
The AMC title is essentially a 3-team race between these two and William Woods. CBC holds a 1.5-game lead over both Columbia and WWU! Tonight, they head to Columbia, which is one of the toughest road games in the AMC. They are undefeated at home in league play and their only two losses on the season, at home, are to No. 12 Dordt and to Central Methodist (MO). Collin Parker is reigning AMC POY and is a tough matchup for teams. CBC is scrappy defensively though and will look to pressure the Cougars and force them into turnovers. While Columbia has lost two straight games to CBC, they are 8-2 at home vs the Mustangs. Neither team has won this game by more than 10pts since January of 2022! Sage Borbon is a AMC POY candidate and currently is averaging 20ppg in AMC play. Wade Williams and Jonas Carlisle are also big contributors for the Mustangs. This is a huge game for both teams who have their sights set on an AMC Title and hosting the AMC Tourney!
8:00pm CT | Wayland Baptist (TX) @ No. 8 Langston (OK)
Wayland, earlier this season, handed Langston one of their two losses on the season. A game in which Langston had just become No. 1 in the country! Wayland has had a bit of an up and down season. However, they were just in 1st place in the SAC before losing to OPSU, who at the time was tied for last place in the SAC. WBU then lost on the road to MACU, moving their road record to just 4-4 on the season. Quenton Coleman has been a star for WBU though as he is the only WBU player averaging in double figures with him avg 21.2ppg. In the first outing it was Coleman and Niko Numerous who led the way. For Langston, it’s been all about who is healthy for the Lions. They have yet to play at full strength this season. The latest one has been leading scorer, Bryce Monroe, who sat two games ago, and then played just 22minutes last game and didn’t look like the Bryce Monroe we have seen all season. The Lions did add Kamron Brice to the lineup at the break. Brice played for Langston HC, Chris Wright, at Talladega when they went to the NAIA National Title game. He has led them in scoring in both games he has played! With WBU on a 2-game losing streak, Langston has overtaken 1st place in the SAC Standings! As a former Assistant for Chris Wright, Wayland HC, Clint Galyean, always has good game plans coming into these games!
8:30pm CT | No. 20 Hope International (CA) @ No. 6 Arizona Christian
HIU comes into this game as new members to the NAIA Top 25! They are 14-2 on the season with their only NAIA loss coming at Bushnell. They have won 10-striaght games since! They are 14-0 at home this season, but 0-2 on the road. Nick Hopkins Josh Hardiman and Grant Sii lead the way for the Royals. ACU comes into this game 6-0 at home this season. They are 14-3 overall with all three losses coming to teams currently ranked inside the Top 11 in the polls. Anthony Howell has been great as of late, as has Freshman, Jalik Dunkerly. Vets, Dom Gonzalez and Arik Nicholas are also guys who have been playing good ball as of late. Both teams play similar pace and both can get hot from deep! Should be another great GSAC matchup between the two teams!
Top 25 Games
No. 1 Georgetown vs Bethel (TN) | 6:30pm CT | Georgetown Athletics YouTube
No. 7 The Master’s @ BenU-Mesa | 8pm CT | GSAC Sports Network
No. 11 Montana Tech @ Montana Western | 8pm CT | Bulldog Sports Network YouTube
No. 18 Rocky Mountain @ Carroll (MT) | 8pm CT | Carroll Athletics YouTube
No. 22 William Woods @ Missouri Baptist | 7:30pm CT | Spartan Digital Network
Other Games of Note
7pm CT | Dillard @ Tougaloo | HBCU+
7pm CT | Middle Ga State @ Mobile | SSAC Network
8pm CT | Oklahoma City @ RV Nelson University | Nelson Athletics YouTube
