BEST WIN | MACU (OK)
MACU, as you will read here in a bit, is RED HOT! They won 3 games this past week, including knocking off No. 8 Langston by 21! This is a tough MACU team, who is coached by Josh Gamblin. Coach Gamblin picked up his 200th career win this past week as he has his MACU squad really playing great basketball!
UPSET | College of the Ozarks over No. 8 Langston (OK)
Not trying to pick on Langston today, especially since they had the flu bug, but College of the Ozarks, at 7-12, and losing 5 of their previous 6 games headed into that game, stunned the Lions 76-75! Garrett Snyder went off for 26pts while DJ Quarles (17pts) and Caleb Faulkner (16pts) were the only other Bobcats to be in double-figures.
OFFFENSE | The Master’s (CA)
The Mustangs went 2-0 this past week to move their win-streak to 6 games. They have so many offensive weapons and when they are clicking, they are tough to matchup with. Kaleb Lowery continues to be a NPOY candidate. He is one of the toughest matchups in the entire NAIA. However, it’s been the play of Freshman, Quincy Phillips who has really helped take TMU to the next level! He had 19pts against Life Pacific and then exploded for 31pts and 10rebs in the win vs Embry-Riddle. He’s a STUD and even though he has been our Fr. of the Week prior, he just got edged out this week. In the Embry-Riddle win, the Mustangs had 22 assists on 29 made shots. In the win vs Life Pacific, they had 28 assists on 37 made shots! About the only thing they didn’t do well, is shoot the 3!
DEFENSE | Pikeville (KY)
Pikeville has been quite good defensively over the past two games! Coming off a big win against Tennessee Wesleyan last week, in which they held TWU to just 65pts on 41% from the field and 29% from 3, they turned around this week against a Montreat offense that can score the ball and held them to 53pts on 33.9% from the field and just 20% from 3!
COACH OF THE WEEK | Jesse McClung, St. Mary-Woods
All St. Mary-Woods has done since Jesse McClung arrived last season, is win! The Pomeroy, after wins AT WVU Techa and AT Alice Lloyd, this past week, moved to 17-3 on the season! Those are two of the tougher places to play at in the RSC and being able to sweep that road trip isn’t an easy task! In doing so, SMWC is in a great spot to pick up an RSC auto-bid with the best overall record! They also currently sit in 1st place in the River States Conference. In two seasons, Coach McClung currently sits at 42-10 (81%) overall and 24-2 (92%) in RSC play!
STOCK UP | MidAmerica Nazarene (KS)
Coach Adam Hepker and the Pioneers are starting to get things figured out a bit! They are just 11-10 on the season, but have won 4-straight games and 6 of their past 7! The only loss in that time span was a 3pt loss to a Graceland team who was recently in the Top 25! They are led by Freshman, Joe Buchanan at 15.5ppg. They also recently got back Junior Shane Stevensen, who has helped add some scoring over the past 3 games!
STOCK UP | MACU (OK)
SIX-straight wins and now in a tie for 1st place in the Sooner Athletic Conference has MACU trending upward! The Evangels have been super tough defensively and over their past four games they have won by an average of 25.25 points. Those include wins over RV Nelson and No. 8 Langston.
STOCK FALLING | Langston (OK)
The flu is going around the SAC right now and it’s hit a few teams HARD! Langston is one of them as they lost 3 straight games, including their first home loss in 3 seasons. They also lost control of 1st place in the SAC. The Lions will try to rebound as they now have 4-straight home games. Between the flu and their injuries, the Lions have barely had their entire roster available for 1 game together. Will be interesting to see if they can get to full strength, because those 3-games probably hurt their seeding a bit which could end up making a very dangerous team a lower seed in their Quadrant.
GAME OF THE WEEK | No. 22 William Woods (MO) takes down No. 17 Central Baptist (AR)
What a GAME! I mean, that is obvious probably as it lands in this category, but seriously, WHAT A GAME!! William Woods, fresh off of entering the Top 25, got to host it’s first Top 25 game inside of Anderson Arena on Thursday night! The game started with Central Baptist blasting off to an early 14pt lead and carried an 8pt lead into halftime. CBC held the lead in the 2H until the 6min mark, when an Ahlante Askew 3pt shot gave William Woods the lead. The teams exchanged a few blows over the next couple of minutes before William Woods exploded over the final 3 minutes to secure the 79-74 win! The win pulled WWU even with CBC for 1st place in the AMC. Both with only loss, to each other. Both still have a couple tough games left, but this one certainly could be a game we see a rematch in for a AMC Tournament title!
ONIONS | Concordia (MI)
What a magical shot for CUAA! A school who is shutting down athletics after this school year made at least one final memory for the season during this past weekend’s CIT when Jason Jergens hit the 3, as the buzzer sounded, to give CUAA a win over CUW! As you can see in the videos, the win meant a ton to not just the basketball team, but to all of the students in attendance as well! Who knows how many more great memories these students are able to have over the final few months at CUAA, but one thing is for sure, this past weekend, one magical shot made a memory to last a lifetime!
PLAYER OF THE WEEK | Kashie Natt, LSU-Alexandria
Kash is one of the best players in the country and is a finalist for NPOY! He has had a tremendous season, once again, and although it was just 1-game this week, Kashie went off in the Red River Rivalry game!
vs Louisiana College | 24pts, 16rebs, 5assts.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK | Devin Spencer, Bethany (KS)
Devin had a big week defensively as he helped Bethany go 1-1 with an upset win over St. Mary (KS)! In two games, Devin nabbed 8stls, 6rebounds, 1blk. In the St. Mary game, Devin had 5stls, 1blk and grabbed 4 defensive rebounds. He also chipped in 14pts and 8assts in the game!
RODMAN PLAYER OF THE WEEK | Crew Gibson, Indiana Tech
Our Sophomore of the Week last week, Crew continued his great season with two more big outings this past week to help Indiana Tech move to 2-0! As they say, the board man gets paid and Crew snatched up 26 of them in two games! He did a little bit of everything as he continues to impact winning!
vs CUAA | 12pts, 16rebs, 6assts, 2blks, 2stls
at Sienna Heights | 13pts, 10rebs, 2assts, 2blks, 2stls
SOPHOMORE OF THE WEEK | Ian Raasch, Grace (IN)
Ian is having a BIG year for Grace and he is coming off another stellar week where he helped Grace go 2-0! On the season Ian is averaging 15.7ppg, 5.4rpg and is shooting 60% from the field!
vs MVNU | 18pts, 6rebs, 2assts
at Marian | 18pts, 4rebs, 1assts
FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK | Joe Buchanan, MNU (KS)
What a year the Freshman has had as he continue to lead MNU in scoring at 15.5ppg. This past week he just missed his career high in points with 30 on the road vs Benedictine. Joe is a name to circle as he is continuing to help MNU stay hot!
vs Peru State | 17pts, 3rebs, 1asst, 1blk
at Benedictine (KS) | 30pts on 7-9 from 3, 3rebs, 3assts
DUNK OF THE WEEK | Tristan Smith, CUNE
There were several great dunks again this week. Including another one from the Kashie Natt, who is also a human highlight real! However, Tristan’s in-game windmill slam was just him showing off his silly bounce! Seriously one of the best dunkers in the NAIA!
