- Good Morning NAIA Hoops Nation! We are just about to hit the 5k follower mark on Twitter which is unbelievable. We have tried our best to bring attention to NAIA Hoops, and while we are still far from perfect, we are learning and growing, and I think our best is still ahead of us.
- We will jump right into our circled game recaps from last night. The first of the group was the GCAC matchup that saw Tougaloo defeat #20 Talladega 79-66. Tougaloo has now won 27 of it’s last 28 home games, and remained undefeated in conference play. They are in a tie with Xavier (LA) for the GCAC lead.
- Our next circled game takes us over to the Heart of America where RV MidAmerica Nazarene road struggles continued as they lost to Central Methodist 77-65. Now that CMU got 2 of their guys back at break, they have been playing much better basketball. They have some work to do to make the Heart Conference Tournament, but if they do, they could be a really tough out. MidAmerica Nazarene falls to a tie for 3rd place with the loss.
- We stayed in the Heart for our 3rd circled game last night as Clarke hit the road and beat Mount Mercy 94-90. We mentioned it last night on Twitter, but the win by Clarke, and the MidAmerica Nazarene loss, puts them alone in 2nd place in the Heart. Thus, it sets up a big matchup with #3 William Penn on Thursday. A win would put Clarke just a half game back of 1st place, while a William Penn win, would put a gap of 2.5 games between William Penn and 2nd place. This may end up being a circled game on Thursday, because it should be a great game.
- The last game we had circled from last nights small slate featured NAIA DII #13 Lourdes and NAIA DI #25 Shawnee State. Shawnee proved to be too much at home and got the 79-70 win. A putback dunk at the end of the 1st half, put Shawnee St up 2 at the break. They would lead the entire 2nd half, and would get up by as much as 13 points. Kyree Elder had a big time game with 25 points and 10 rebounds in the win. Shawnee returns to Mid-South play on Thursday when they travel to #1 Georgetown.
- A few congratulations to hand out on some big milestones that were hit:
- We will start with Mount Marty’s Chris King, who is having an All-American type year and surpassed the 1,500 point mark this past weekend.
- Congratulations also to DJ Everage of La Sierra for joining the 1k club!
- We will leave you with this ALLY-OOP, right before half time, last night for Xavier (LA)!
