2021 CCAC Tournament Bracket
Opening Round
#15 IU South Bend @ #2 Holy Cross 6pm CT Live Video
#13 Cardinal Stritch @ #4 Saint Xavier 6pm CT Live Video
#10 Roosevelt @ #7 Lincoln 6:30pm CT Live Video
#12 Judson @ #5 Governors State 7pm CT Live Video
#9 Trinity International @ #8 St Francis (IL) 7pm CT Live Video
#14 Calumet St Joseph @ #3 St Ambrose 7:30pm CT Live Video
#11 IU Northwest @ #6 Trinity Christian 7:30pm CT Live Video
Quarterfinals
February 25th
Semifinals
February 27th
Finals
March 1st
Championship Game @ Top Remaining Seed
League Notes:
The top seed: Olivet Nazarene
NAIA Locks: Clinched: Olivet Nazarene (CCAC Regular Season Champion), Clinched: Holy Cross (CCAC Runner Up)
NAIA Bubble Teams: St Ambrose
Best chances to win this tournament: Olivet Nazarene (13-3,12-1), Holy Cross (13-5,8-3), St. Ambrose (14-5,9-3)
Possible sleeper: Trinity Christian (9-8,6-4)
KEY PLAYERS:
Alex Gross 6’9 – Olivet Nazarene: 27.3ppg, 4.1rpg, 3.2apg
Turner heads into the AAC Tourney as the Nations 2nd leading scorer. He is one of the best shooters in the NAIA and has lit up the AAC this season. Despite Union not winning as many games, Turner should still be the AAC Player of the Year.
Brandon Lawani 6’7 – Trinity International: 24.7ppg, 6.6rpg, 3.7apg
Lawani is a talent at 6’7! He’s the type of player that you know is going to show up every night. In fact, he has 5 straight games of 20+pts. If TIU is going to make a run in the CCAC Tournament it will be on the backs of him and McQueen.
Storm Cook 6’0 – Holy Cross 17.3ppg, 2.4rpg, 2.0apg
One of the best shooters in the CCAC. Storm is currently 10th in the CCAC in ppg while shooting 47% from 3 on 59 makes on the year. If he can keep that streak alive, this Holy Cross team can make a run at this title!
KEY TEAMS:
#1 Olivet Nazarene – This ONU team is rolling right now with 10 straight wins headed into the CCAC Tournament. They will get a 1st round bye, so should be well rested. They have already qualified for the National Tournament, but now will try to improve seeding!
#2 Holy Cross – The only team to beat ONU from the CCAC this season. They lost a few games while battling a shortened roster, but managed to still get the 2nd auto-bid as runners up in the CCAC!
#3 Saint Ambrose – They have the size to compete with anyone and when they are hitting 3’s they are tough to beat. They have 3 chances to qualify for the NAIA National Tournament, all they need to do is hope that ONU or Holy Cross wins the CCAC Title if they aren’t able to do it themselves.
UPSET SPECIAL:
#6 Trinity Chrisitian – James Pennington and company have won 4 straight coming into this game. They have some good talent on that roster, but matchups will be important!
1st Round Game Notes
#15 IU South Bend @ #2 Holy Cross 6pm CT Live Video
Not a lot to go off of with this matchup as the two didn’t play in the regular season. See below in our Best Opening Round Matchup for a better breakdown!
#13 Cardinal Stritch @ #4 Saint Xavier 6pm CT Live Video
Saint Xavier 1-0 – Beat Cardinal Stritch 79-66 at home back on January 2nd.
Both teams tend to play at a slower, methodical pace. St X will push the tempo a little bit more than Cardinal will. St X is holding teams to just 44% from the field on the season and will look to clamp down on defense again tonight to advance to the CCAC Quarterfinals.
#10 Roosevelt @ #7 Lincoln 6:30pm CT Live Video
Roosevelt 1-0 – Beat Lincoln 64-61 at home on February 5th.
Lincoln comes into this matchup losing 3 of it’s last 4 games, including that Roosevelt game. They get a chance to seek some revenge tonight as the Lynx get to host Roosevelt this go around.
#12 Judson @ #5 Governors State 7pm CT Live Video
Series is tied 1-1. Governors State lost the latest matchup 76-75 at home back on February 13th.
Judson has been a tough matchup for Governors State this season. They lost to them at home, but turned around just 10 days ago and beat them by 1 at Governors State. They will need another big performance to advance to the CCAC Quarterfinals.
#9 Trinity International @ #8 St Francis (IL) 7pm CT Live Video
St Francis 1-0- Beat Trinity International 69-68 on Feb 13th.
Another game that was super close just 10 days ago. Trinity International has two of the top scorers in the CCAC in Brandon Lawani and Brandon McQueen. St Francis is at home though, so expect a great game in this one!
#14 Calumet St Joseph @ #3 St Ambrose 7:30pm CT Live Video
The two teams haven’t met this season.
This Ambrose team comes in on a 3 game win streak. They have taken care of the bottom half of the league most of the season. It’s ONU and Holy Cross that they have struggled with!
#11 IU Northwest @ #6 Trinity Christian 7:30pm CT Live Video
IU Northwest 1-0 – Beat Trinity Christian at Trinity Christian by a score of 95-81 back in November.
Trinity is our upset special pick out of the CCAC. James Pennington and company will have to play well to get by IU Northwest!
OTHER NOTES:
– CCAC has (3) auto-bids: Olivet Nazarene, Holy Cross and Tournament Champion or St Ambrose if it’s ONU or Holy Cross that wins Tournament.
– Best Opening Round Matchup: #2 Holy Cross vs #15 IU South Bend – We know it’s weird to have a 15 seed against a 2-seed and say it’s the best matchup in the opening round and this game may end up being a blow out. However, this is the 1st game since November 24th for IU South Bend, so there won’t be much of a scout to go off of for Holy Cross top prepare for. IU South Bend also went 2-0 in those games and knocked off both Trinity Christian and Bellevue. Those aren’t bad wins, so while we don’t know what to expect, we are intrigued by this game!
– Our Pick To Win It: Olivet Nazarene – We need to stop picking #1 seeds to win the tournaments, but this ONU team only has one CCAC loss on the season and are the heavy favorites! Just think that Alex Gross and John Content get it done in the tournament. This is a Tiger team that has improved all season long and is just clicking at the right time of the year.
