College of Idaho vs Oklahoma Wesleyan

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College of Idaho is looking for their 2nd Tittle in three years while OKWU looks for their first title since 2009! What a matchup we have here! I know some of you are surprised that OKWU is here as a 7-seed, but you shouldn’t be. This was a team that started the season as the 5th ranked team in the NAIA! Unfortunately some injuries led to some losses and then, while healthy they lost in the KCAC semis to Bethel (KS). Are they better than a 7-seed, yes, but the NAIA has never accounted for injuries built into teams resumes. It’s too hard, as it currently stands, for the committee to take into consideration every injury that happens over the course of the season. They simply take your resume as is and for that, OKWU became a very dangerous 7-seed! One with loads of potential and lots of confidence! They have the Co-KCAC POY, DJ Talton Jr., who is a really fun matchup against fellow small guard and 1st team All-American, Samaje Morgan! Both of these teams are really deep. College of Idaho leads with Drew Wyman, Straton Rogers, Tyler Robinett and a plethora of other talented role guys! Johnny Radford is tough and makes plays as the 5th starter. Dougie Peoples is going to come off the bench firing from deep! Paul Wilson gives them a big body with Caden Handran and Utrillo Morris playing good minutes as well! OKWU counters with one of the best big men in the NAIA in Jaden Lietzke! They also have the savvy vet, Dylan Phillip, who has come off the bench and had a big semifinal game. Yashi McKenzie, Nick Bene and Isaac Stanek are scrappy defensively! Yashi continues to make winning plays for OKWU and is one of the best defenders in the NAIA. Makes smart/calculated gambles and just flat competes!

Of course the “Johnnie’s and Joe’s” will have a say in this one, but the MVP will be which team defense shows up the best! These are two teams who lock in defensively, crash the glass hard and fly all over the court! College of Idaho does it a lot with their 1-3-1 and matchup zones. I won’t be shocked if you see the 1-3-1 to start the game tonight. They like to utilize that to pressure up front and that may help to keep Lietzke from getting touches in paint. However, OKWU is so unselfish and pass ball really well. They also have the toughness you have to play with in order to break the Yote pressure zone. Same for College of Idaho on the opposite side of the ball. They are tough enough to withstand the OKWU pressure and can get good shots. So far both teams have shot the ball really well. If either goes cold tonight, that could be just the run that their opponent needs to build a lead and not look back! Both of these teams feed off of momentum swings! Both teams like to punch their opponents in the mouth early! Both teams play with a lot of swag and controlled emotion! Throw out the seeds here, these were two of the Top 5 teams in the NAIA to start the season and we are all in for a real treat tonight!