Kentucky schools shine in opening round of NAIA tourneys, including a three-OT thriller
Seven of the 10 teams from Kentucky playing in this week’s men’s and women’s NAIA national college basketball tournaments survived their opening-round matchups Tuesday and advanced to Wednesday’s round of 32.
Each 64-team field tipped off with two rounds at school sites around the country. The final 16 teams in the women’s tournament will head to Sioux City, Iowa, for the remaining rounds March 13-18. The last 16 men’s teams will settle things in Kansas City, Missouri, on the same dates.
Four of Kentucky’s six women’s teams in the NAIA field came away with victories Tuesday — Campbellsville, Cumberlands, Thomas More and Georgetown. Midway and Pikeville were eliminated.
Three of Kentucky’s four men’s teams advanced — Georgetown, Pikeville and Thomas More. Union was knocked out.
Women
Cumberlands 117, Midway 108 (3OT): Two teams from Kentucky delivered the most thrilling game of the first round, but Cumberlands came out on top by making four three-pointers in the third overtime to at last gain separation at New Orleans, La.
Sophomore Kassie Monday led Cumberlands, the No. 5 seed in the Cramer Quadrant, with 35 points, including four three-point baskets, and 13 assists to go along with five of the Patriots’ 14 steals.
“It’s win or go home,” Monday said after playing 54 minutes. “We have the mentality that we’re not gonna give up, we’re not gonna lose.”
Cumberlands (23-7) and Midway (23-9) were tied 73-73 at the end of regulation, 85-85 after one overtime and 97-97 after two OTs. Cumberlands outscored Midway 20-11 in the final frame as Destiny Haworth cashed in twice from beyond the arc, and Monday and Brittni Allison each delivered a three-point dagger.
Channing Lewis (Mercer County) and Amerah Steele (South Laurel) added 19 points each, and Lakin Burke had 15 for the Patriots. Three players fouled out for Cumberlands and one for Midway.
Midway kept the game close by turning defense into offense, forcing 33 Cumberlands turnovers and generating 37 points off those miscues.
Dezeree White led the Eagles with 25 points. Sereneti Webb (Simon Kenton) added 22 points and 10 boards. Aleigha Mucker (Breckinridge County) chipped in with 15 points and Amoni White 13.
Cumberlands was to face No. 13 seed John Brown University of Arkansas (21-9) in the round of 32 Wednesday.
Thomas More 73, Point (Ga.) 47: The defending NAIA champions led by 19 points at halftime and were never tested in cruising to an opening-round win at home on the strength of four double-figure scorers.
Alex Smith led the way for the Saints, seeded No. 1 in the Cramer Quadrant, with 13 points in 17 minutes off the bench. Courtney Hurst (Conner) scored 12. Zoie Barth (Highlands) finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Emily Simon also scored 10 points.
Thomas More (27-3) advanced to a round-of-32 game Wednesday against No. 8 seed Concordia University of Nebraska (20-11).
Campbellsville 86, Oakland City (Ind.) 67: The Tigers, seeded No. 1 in the Duer Quadrant, finished fast to finish off their first-round opponent at Campbellsville.
Kaitlynn Wilks (Lincoln County) led Campbellsville (29-2) with 25 points as the Tigers broke open a six-point game after three quarters by outscoring Oakland City (20-9) 26-13 in the final 10 minutes. Back-to-back three-pointers by Sarah Sutton (Allen County-Scottsville) and Courtney Pritchett extended the Tigers’ lead to 12 points with 6:30 to go and the Mighty Oaks never seriously threatened thereafter.
Campbellsville was to face No. 9 seed Rust College of Mississippi (23-5) on Wednesday.
Georgetown 70, MidAmerica Nazarene 68 (OT): Georgetown, the No. 9 seed in the Liston Quadrant, made several key defensive stops in the closing minute to score its first NAIA Tournament win in 10 years at Marion, Ind.
Jaylynn Landversicht (East Jessamine) led Georgetown with 19 points, 11 rebounds and three steals and blocked a layup by MidAmerica Nazarene (21-9) with 11 seconds to go. University of Kentucky transfer Erin Toller (Sacred Heart), who had 16 points, eight rebounds and three steals, grabbed a key rebound and made a critical free throw in the closing seconds to close out the win.
Georgetown (19-13) advanced to a round-of-32 contest Wednesday against No. 1 seed Indiana Wesleyan (29-3).
Grace (Ind.) 83, Pikeville 53: The shorthanded Bears were doomed by a 10-minute scoring drought in the first half and dropped their first-round matchup at Rio Grande, Ohio.
The No. 5 seed in the Duer Quadrant, Pikeville (21-9) played without all-conference center Morgan Stamper (Simon Kenton), who was lost to injury right before the postseason began. Grace (22-9) advanced as a No. 12 seed.
Allie Stone (West Carter) led the Bears with 16 points, and Bailey Frazier had 13.
Men
Georgetown 67, Lourdes (Ohio) 58: The host Tigers, making their record 42nd appearance in the NAIA Tournament, advanced to the round of 32 behind a balanced effort spurred by 16 points from Jake Ohmer and 14 by Rashad Bishop.
Ohmer, a transfer from Western Kentucky out of Scott High School, kicked in five rebounds and four assists for Georgetown, the No. 3 seed in the Duer Quadrant.
Bishop, a 6-7 freshman from Ballard, led the Tigers (27-5) with nine boards.
Georgetown was to next face No. 6 seed Indiana Wesleyan (21-9) on Wednesday.
Pikeville 71, Huntington (Ind.) 66: Teddy Parham led three players in double figures with 19 points as the Bears pulled a first-round upset at Alexandria, La.
Pikeville (20-12) is the No. 13 seed in the Naismith Quadrant and sent home the No. 4 seed in Huntington (24-8).
Devin Collins and Korbin Spencer (Elliott County) added 13 points each for the Bears, who advanced to face No. 5 seed LSU Shreveport (25-7) on Wednesday. Freshman Bradley Bunch came off the bench to contribute six points and 10 rebounds.
Thomas More 66, Eastern Oregon 44: Reid Jolly scored 22 points and Jacob Jones 18 to lead the Saints into Wednesday’s second round at Butte, Mont.
Jolly, a 6-foot-5 redshirt junior from Campbell County, also contributed six rebounds and a pair of steals for Thomas More (23-8), the No. 5 seed in the Cramer Quadrant. The Saints were to face No. 4 seed Montana Tech (27-4) on Wednesday.
Thomas More limited Eastern Oregon to 26.8 percent shooting from the field (19-for-71).
Southeastern (Fla.) 82, Union 76: Markelo Sullivan scored 29 points but it was not enough to save Union, the No. 6 seed in the Cramer Quadrant from being upset by No. 11 Southeastern (19-12) at Montgomery, Ala.
Sullivan, a 6-4 junior from Louisville, also had 11 rebounds for the Bulldogs, whose best season in decades ended at 27-3. Union led 42-35 at halftime but went cold thereafter, failing to score in the first five minutes of the second half and shooting 5-for-25 from the field after the break.
