| KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Four of the 16 teams to reach Kansas City are double-digit seeds, and two of those teams battle when Lewis-Clark State and Evangel (Mo.) meet at 5 p.m. PT on Thursday at the Municipal Auditorium in the NAIA Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament.
No. 11 Seed – Lewis-Clark State Warriors (24-8, 19-3)
The Warriors earned a ticket to Kansas City with two victories in Butte, Mont., against No. 6-seed Hope International (Calif.) and No. 3-seed Montana Tech. LC State lost to both during the regular season and avenged those contests in the best way.
“This has been a special journey with a special group of guys,” coach Austin Johnson said. “There’s adversity in every season, but this team has seen as much or more than any team I’ve coached. They have persevered and really created their own identity of toughness and togetherness.”
It was a tale of two halves against the Royals. LC State held Hope International to 20 points in the first half and won a combined 118-point second half shootout to take the 93-77 win. The Warriors shot 55.2% as a team including a 21-of-32 (65.6%) performance in the second half. The LC State bench showed up, outscoring Hope International 30-11.
Cascade Conference Newcomer of the Year Jaedon Bradley led LC State with 21 points and Sam Stockton added 18 in a game where five LC players reached double figures.
In the second round, LC State earned the win against host and No. 8 overall seed Montana Tech 85-77. The game had 13 lead changes in the first half, but the Warriors never trailed in the second half.
Six players finished in double figures in a game where the offense was the story in the first half and the defense took control in the second.
“It starts with our three seniors,” Johnson said. “But really all nine guys on our postseason roster have had a hand in our success.”
LC made 18-of-31 (58%) in the first half as the Warriors outscored the Orediggers 46-45. In the second half, LC State held Montana Tech to 28.57% shooting to take the upset victory.
First-Team All-CCC selection Davian Brown was 9-for-9 at the free throw line and led LC with 18 points. All-CCC Honorable Mention honoree Quentin Raynor finished with 13 points and CCC Freshman of the Year Alton Hamilton added 12.
On the season the Warriors have had a very proficient offense. LC shot 48.9% on the season, topping 50% in the last nine games, and went 8-1 in those contests.
“This group is a blast to be around,” Johnson, the CCC Coach of the Year, added. “Selfishly I hope we can stay on a roll so we keep getting time together as a group.”
No. 15 Seed – Evangel Valor (20-10, 15-7)
The Valor surprised everyone as they became the first 15-seed to win a game in the NAIA Men’s Basketball Championship First and Second Rounds in the three-year history of the tournament moving to 64 teams.
“Evangel is a very disciplined team that puts a lot of pressure on you with their motion offense,” Johnson said. “They are elite at passing and cutting and creating scoring opportunities for high percentage shots. Due to their close proximity to Kansas City, they should have a great crowd as well.”
Evangel jumped on No. 2-seed Florida Memorial in the first half with a 51-point performance. The Valor shot 56.3% for the game including a 20-of-33 (60.61%) in the first half that gave them a 51-34 advantage.
Josh Pritchett, voted Second-Team All-KCAC, led the way with 20 points. Josh Mason had 18 points, Garrett Davault added 17 and Jace Coffie finished with 15 in a game that Evangel never trailed. Davault and Coffie were both All-KCAC Honorable Mention selections.
The Valor were not done as they earned their trip to Kansas City with a 90-68 win against No. 10-seed Baker (Kan.) in a contest that Evangel never trailed by more than one point.
Davault took the game over with a 30-point performance on 10-of-15 shooting with a 10-of-12 performance at the free throw line. The 6-foot-3 sophomore is averaging 13.5 points per game, but saved his season high for the second round of that national tournament.
Evangel has won 11 of its last 13 contests. A disappointing 78-72 loss to Saint Mary (Kan.) in the quarterfinal of the KCAC Conference Tournament pushed the Valor to one of the final at-large bids.
“Evangel is a very good team that has been on a roll the last half of the season,” Johnson said. “They present a ton of matchup problems for us defensively with their offensive style of play.”
As a team, Evangel averages 82.4 points per game on 49.2% shooting with an average margin of victory of 4.7.
THE REST OF THE BRACKET
The other half of the Naismith Quadrant sees No. 1-seed Grace (Ind.) face off with No. 5-seed Northwestern (Iowa) at 3 p.m. Pacific on Thursday.
Grace (32-1) rolled through the first two rounds with an average margin of victory of 32.5. Northwestern (25-7) survived a tough 72-71 win over CCC opponent Oregon Tech in the second round.
The winner of LC State and Evangel will face the winner of Grace and Northwestern on Saturday at 1 p.m. PT.
THE DETAILS
Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. PT in the Municipal Auditorium and will be streamed live on www.NAIANetwork.com with a radio broadcast on EmailHosting.cloud has detected a phishing attempt from “r20.rs6.net”. Clicking this link is not recommended: www.koze.com. Brian Danner is in Kansas City to carry the KOZE broadcast and the NAIA is charging for the stream.
A watch party will be hosted at Riverport Brewing in Clarkston.
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