Free throws save Georgetown, Kentucky’s only men’s team still standing in NAIA Tournament

Kentucky was represented by six women’s and four men’s teams at the start of the NAIA national basketball tournaments this week. Those numbers have been whittled to three and one after the first two rounds played out in each field of 64 over the past two days.

After playing the first two rounds at campus sites, the remaining 16 teams in each bracket advance to Sioux City, Iowa (women) and Kansas City, Mo. (men) where the remainder of their championship events will play out next week.

On Tuesday, the women’s teams from Midway and Pikeville were knocked out along with the men’s team from Union.

On Wednesday, the Georgetown women were eliminated, as were the Pikeville and Thomas More men.

Still standing are two No. 1 seeds in the women’s bracket in Thomas More and Campbellsville, along with No. 5 seed Cumberlands.

The only men’s team still fighting is No. 3 seed Georgetown, which survived a nerve-wracking finish Wednesday to secure a spot in Kansas City.

Men

Georgetown 75, Indiana Wesleyan 74: In a game that neither team led by more than seven points, free throws in the final seconds — both made and missed — made all the difference as the Tigers (28-5) claimed a spot in next week’s Sweet 16.

Leading 74-71 with 10 seconds to play, Indiana Wesleyan (21-10) attempted to commit a foul to prevent Georgetown from making a tying three-point basket. Instead, the Wildcats fouled Georgetown’s Jake Ohmer in the act of shooting a three. The transfer from Western Kentucky made the first two free throws and, after a Wesleyan timeout, missed the third, so the Tigers still trailed, 74-73. Ohmer fouled out trying to get the rebound, but Georgetown received a break when Indiana Wesleyan missed the front of a one-and-one with six seconds left.

The Tigers then got the ball to 6-foot-5 junior Kyran Jones (Bowling Green), who was fouled trying to score with 0.4 seconds remaining. Jones, who re-entered the game when Ohmer fouled out seconds earlier, calmly sank both free throws to secure the win.

Jones, a 61.5 percent free-throw shooter, finished with 15 points and six rebounds. Ohmer (Scott High School) scored 16, and Drew LaMont had 15.

Next up for Georgetown, the No. 3 seed in the Duer Quadrant is a matchup with No. 2 Langston (Okla.) (31-2) on Tuesday at 2 p.m. EDT.

LSU Shreveport 78, Pikeville 73: The Bears closed a 20-point deficit to four with nine seconds remaining but could get no closer as their season came to an end in Alexandria, La.

Devin Collins led Pikeville, the No. 13 seed in the Naismith Quadrant, with 24 points. Teddy Parham had 15, Jacob Brown 14 and Korbin Spencer (Elliott County) 13 for the Bears (20-13). LSU Shreveport (26-7) is a No. 5 seed.

Montana Tech 77, Thomas More 72 (OT): The Saints, attempting to make a return trip to the NAIA Final Four, were knocked out in the round of 32 after letting a seven-point lead slip away in the final six minutes of regulation at Lakeland, Fla.

Reid Jolly (Campbell County) led Thomas More (23-9) with 20 points as the No. 5 seed in the Cramer Quadrant was defeated by No. 4 Montana Tech (28-4). Wyatt Vieth (St. Henry) and Noah Pack scored 13 each. Casey George and Jacob Jones added 12 apiece.

Women

Thomas More 98, Concordia (Neb.) 69: The defending national champions are playing like a team up to the challenge of repeating, winning their first two games in this year’s NAIA Tournament by 26 and 29 points.

The Saints, the No. 1 seed in the Cramer Quadrant, swept games Tuesday and Wednesday at home to earn a spot in next week’s Sweet 16 at Sioux City.

In Wednesday’s win at Crestview Hills, five players scored in double figures to lead Thomas More (28-3) over Concordia (20-12).

Thomas More sizzled from the field (32-for-55, 58.2 percent) and from three-point range (18-for-34, 52.9 percent) in posting its second-highest scoring output this season. The Saints also connected on 16 of 17 free-throw attempts.

Zoie Barth (Highlands) led the way with 22 points. Courtney Hurst (Conner) had 16, Rylee Turner 14 (Newport Central Catholic), Alex Smith 13 and Rachel Martin 12.

Next up is a date with in-state rival and No. 5 seed Cumberlands on Tuesday at 7 p.m. EDT. Thomas More swept two regular-season meetings, 94-74 on Nov. 17, and 83-64 on Jan. 21.

Cumberlands 75, John Brown (Ark.) 67: The Patriots, who knocked out Midway College in three overtimes in Tuesday’s opening round, overcame a first-half deficit in Wednesday’s round of 32 at New Orleans, to earn a date with another opponent from Kentucky.

Cumberlands, the No. 5 seed in the Cramer Quadrant, will meet defending national champion Thomas More on Tuesday in the Sweet 16.

Destiny Haworth, who made two three-pointers in the third overtime Tuesday, was on target from long range again Wednesday, making five of seven attempts on her way to 15 points for Cumberlands (24-7). Kassie Monday, who scored a game-high 35 points Tuesday, put up a team-best 16 Wednesday against No. 13 seed John Brown (21-10). Lakin Burke added 13 and Channing Lewis (Mercer County) had 10.

Campbellsville 80, Rust (Miss.) 65: The Lady Tigers could barely be stopped in an easy second-round win on their home court.

Campbellsville, the No. 1 seed in the Duer Quadrant, made 26 of their 43 field goal attempts, including all nine of their shots in the third quarter to improve to 30-2.

Lauren Lee (Casey County) led the Tigers with 20 points, seven rebounds and 10 assists. Maddy Boyle (Lincoln County) made three of her four three-point attempts and scored 19 in defeating Rust (23-6). Kaitlynn Wilks (Lincoln County) added 18 points and Courtney Pritchett had 10.

Campbellsville will face No. 4 seed Rio Grande, Ohio (30-3) in Sioux City on Monday at 7 p.m. EDT.

Indiana Wesleyan 88, Georgetown 70: The Tigers’ attempt at pulling one of this year’s biggest upsets in the NAIA Tournament was right on track for three quarters.

Georgetown, the No. 9 seed in the Liston Quadrant, led No. 1 Indiana Wesleyan (30-3) by a point entering the final 10 minutes on its home court in Marion, Ind.

That’s when things got away from Georgetown (19-14). A layup by Lilli Frasure put Indiana Wesleyan in front 64-63 with 9:24 remaining, and the Wildcats quickly reeled off six more points before the Tigers could score again. That three-pointer by University of Kentucky transfer Erin Toller (Sacred Heart) only delayed the inevitable as Indiana Wesleyan then put up 11 more unanswered points to extend its lead to 81-66 by the 3:40 mark, and that was that.

Toller led Georgetown with 18 points. Jaylynn Landversicht (East Jessamine) and Madison Darnell (Russell) scored 12 points each.