The Daily Dive is your deep dive into the news and notes from around the NAIA Hoops World. Every day we will highlight some of the top headlines, conference updates, player accolades, coaching milestones and more. This used to be our Morning Bullet Points series. We went away from it this year, as others were doing similar things and we didn’t want to step on any toes. At the request of many, we have elected to bring it back for the second half of the season. Feel free to DM us on Twitter (@NAIAHoopsReport) or send an email to naiahoopsreport@gmail.com to recommend stories to be included into this segment.
Recap of Yesterday’s Games of the Day:
14 Talladega 80 vs 24 Dillard 72 (Full Recap)
Talladega wins the GCAC Regular Season Title as they beat #24 Dillard yesterday afternoon. You have to believe they were a little pumped up after the conference rater put a 3-0 Dillard team ahead of Talladega in the conference ratings last week. Nonetheless the court settles all things and Talladega looked like a team on a mission this week as they knocked off Xavier and Dillard on their way to the regular season GCAC title! Congrats to the Tornadoes!
18 Marian 77 @ 11 Bethel (IN) 71 (Full Recap)
Marian avenges a home loss to Bethel earlier in January, by going on the road and taking one from Bethel on their home court. Marian was able to jump out to a 10pt half time lead and held on down the stretch to get the win. Cam Wolter finished the game with 19pts and 6rebs in the win. TreVion Crews finished with a game high 22pts for the Pilots in the loss. The win puts Bethel and Marian in a tie for 1st place. The Crossroads League will no doubt get 3 teams into the National Tournament, so a loss won’t hurt Bethel here.
9 Morningside 87 @ 16 Dakota Wesleyan 77 (Full Recap)
Morningside too avenges an earlier home loss to DWU, as they go to the Corn Palace and leave with a HUGE win. They now sit alone in 1st place in the GPAC! Trey Brown once again showed his dominance as he finishes with 20pts and 12rebs in the win! The Mustangs just need 1 win in their last two games to claim at least a share of the GPAC crown!
Full Scoreboard:
Top Performers:
– Zaccheus Darko-Kelly had a big night as he goes for 37pts, 13rebs, 8assts in #10 Providences 2OT win over Montana Western!
– Maxwell and Mangas were at it again. Maxwell finished with 33pts, 10rebs. Mangas goes for 20pts, 9rebs, 11assts in what was a stat stuffer night against Goshen.
– James Pennington continues to do big things for Trinity Christian. He finishes with 38pts, 7rebs and 6assts in the Trolls win!
– Javon Knox had 30pts, 6rebs, 4assts tonight in a MVNU win. Knox is just 3pts away from 2,000 in his career! Should be a special Saturday for Javon against Point Park.
Shout Outs:
– Congrats to Jailen Billings on breaking the Mount Marty school three point makes and attempts record!
– Congrats to Shanelle Tolley of Missouri Valley on reaching 1k career points!
Worth the Listen:
– Dan Dickau has former Lewis-Clark State player and current pro, Jacob Wiley on The Iso with Dan Dickau! It’s worth the time to listen to his story:
Plays of the Day:
You don’t see a walk off, game winning tip dunk very often! What a play, and what a win for Rio Grande basketball!
– The Jamestown Jimmies hit this crazy buzzer beater to keep within striking distance of the GPAC title!
