For basketball coaches, players, fans…..this is just such a fun time of the year. Whether you’re following the USCAA, NCCAA, NAIA (tournaments that have recently finished) or NCAA Division I, II or III, there is just so much excitement, passion and emotion at this time of year.
Take a moment to just enjoy this wonderful time of year!
Enjoy the passion and emotion of college basketball!
The NCAA Division II Elite Eight is set. Quarterfinals will be played on March 28, with the Semifinals being played on March 30. The Quarterfinals and Semifinals will be played in Louisville, KY. The following Sunday, on April 7, the National Championship game will be played in Atlanta as part of the NCAA’s 75th Anniversary (of basketball championships) celebration.
As many of you that follow Small College Basketball already understand, NCAA Division II basketball is broken into eight regions, with eight teams per region playing an eight-team tournament to determine which team advances to the Elite Eight. This year, seven of the eight regional #1 seeds advanced to the Elite Eight, with the one exception of #2 seeded Winona State (who previously set the current record for most consecutive NCAA Division II wins, under the current coach, Mike Leaf).
In the first round of the Elite Eight, here are the matchups that will take place in Louisville:
Franklin Pierce vs. Metro State
Florida Southern vs. Western Washington
Winona State vs. West Liberty State
Drury vs. South Carolina-Aiken
Random notes:
* The Franklin Pierce/Metro State winner will face the winner of the FL Southern/W. Washington game, while the Winona State/W. Liberty winner will face the winner of the Drury/SC-Aiken game.
* Western Washington is the defending NCAA Division II National Champions. Long time assistant coach Tony Dominguez took over for long-time Head Coach Brad Jackson (who left after 27 years to become an assistant at the University of Washington), and Dominguez has led the Vikings to an incredible season, going 30-2 thus far.
* West Liberty State is the #1 ranked team in the country, and is on an incredible streak. They are 33-1 and have won by an average of 25 ppg for the entire season. In the regional tournament, against the best teams in the region, the Hilltoppers won by 32, 23 and 23 points, respectively. Including this season, they are an astounding 127-8 in the last four seasons. This is the Hilltoppers third consecutive Elite Eight.
Congratulations to Georgetown (KY) College for defeating Southwestern Assemblies of God (SAGU), 88-62, to win the NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship. Congratuations to SAGU for an outstanding season, finishing 33-5 and making the school’s first-ever National Championship game.
Georgetown College Head Coach Chris Briggs just won his first National Championship in only his second year as the Head Coach at Georgetown, while junior guard Monty Wilson was named the Tournament MVP after scoring 23 points on 9-13 from the field tonight, and hitting the winning three-pointer in the final second of the semi-final against LSU-Shreveport (and finishing that game with 32 points). Senior Vic Moses came back from ACL surgery that caused him to miss the entire 2011-12 season, and finished the tournament by averaging 17.0 ppg, 13.6 rpg, 2.4 bpg & shot 55% from the field. Without much question, Moses will be named as an NAIA All American for the third time, and he walks off the court at Municipal Auditorium as a National Champion in his senior campaign.
SAGU Coach Donnie Bostwick has had quite a run in his coaching career thus far. As an assistant coach in 2005, his John Brown team won the NAIA Division I National Championship. In 2009, as the Head Coach at Oklahoma Wesleyan, he led his team to the NAIA Division II National Championship. Also with Oklahoma Wesleyan, his program broke the NAIA Division II record for most consecutive wins with 39. Now, in his second season as the Head Coach at SAGU, he has helped lead the Lions to the National Championship game for the first time in school history.
Heck of a night, as Georgetown College is crowned as the 76th NAIA National Champion in the longest-running collegiate basketball National Championship.
Last night provided one of those moments where you’ll remember “where you were and who you were with” when “it” happened. In my case, I was in Municipal Auditorium, in the Southeast corner on the second level walkway with Steve Knight and Tracy English, the coaches at William Carey University.
The “it” was the 25-foot shot hit Georgetown’s Monty Wilson with .4 seconds (that’s 4/10 of one second) to lift Georgetown over LSU-Shreveport to send the Tigers to the NAIA National Championship game (which will be played tonight at 7:30, CST, on CBS Sports).
Towards the end, LSU-Shreveport pulled ahead and seemed to be in control. As we looked at the scoreboard with just under six minutes remaining, we remembered seeing: LSU-Shreveport 82, Georgetown 72. At that point, Georgetown went on a 10-0 run to tie it up at 82 with under three minutes remaining. We had a ballgame.
Fast forward. The Pilots of LSU-Shreveport were down 87-86 with 8.6 second left, and were at the line for two shots. Tevin Hall makes both of them, to give the Pilots the lead, 88-87, and Georgetown comes down, hands off to Monty Wilson, who lets it go with about three seconds left from several feet beyond the arc…..and…..nothing but net! The Tiger are heading to the National Championship game.
For the Pilots of LSU-Shreveport, junior Brandon Davis was a stud. He finished the game with 31 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals. Davis was really fun to watch, as he’s the classic undersized forward, with great skill, athletic ability, great balance and control. He creates tremendous mismatches, and Piloto Coach Kyle Blankenship did a nice job of taking advantage of Davis’ abilities by giving him the ball at the top of the key, bringing out a Georgetown big man, and letting Davis go to work.
Just a thrilling game for anyone who enjoys watching basketball.
Once again, I saw another class-act move by LSU-Shreveport Athletic Director Chad McDowell (who just moved into that role this year after serving as the Men’s Basketball Coach). As crushing as this defeat was, I saw McDowell walking over to the scorers table after the game to shake hands with the whole table crew, thanking them. Absolute class act.
……….
In the first game of the evening, I saw a dominating performance from Southwestern Assemblies of God (SAGU), as they knocked off Mid-South Conference Champ Lindsey Wilson, 80-64. Coach Donnie Bostwick has already won the NAIA Division II National Championship when he was the coach at Oklahoma Wesleyan in 2009 (and holds the record for NAIA Div. II consecutive wins with 39. Now, after last night’s semi-final win over Lindsey Wilson, he leads SAGU to their first-ever National Championship game appearance.
Junior point guard Dominique Rambo is the team’s leader and controls the game, yet last night saw a dominant performance from sophomore forward Mike Nwelue, who caught multiple alley-oops for impressive dunks and finished with 21 points to lead the Lions.
……..
Tonight, the 76th Annual NAIA Division I National Championship game will be televised on CBS Sports at 7:30 (CST), live from Municipal Auditorium. As a note, Municipal Auditorium has hosted more NCAA Final Fours than any other building, and hosted more NAIA National Championship games than any other building. Obviously, there have been more National Championship games in that building than any other building in the United States. With a slew of other college basketball historical games, it stands at the most historical college basketball arena in America.
How about this for a wild collegiate basketball scenario?!:
St. Mary’s (CA) is playing in the NCAA Division I Tournament.
St. Mary’s (TX) is playing in the NCAA Division II Tournament.
St. Mary’s (MD) is playing in the NCAA Division III Tournament.
St. Mary’s (KS) just played in the NAIA Division II Tournament.
St. Mary’s (NE) just played in the NAIA Division II Women’s Tournament.
There are, apparently, a lot of prayers going to/from St. Mary as Pope Francis takes over as the new Pope!
About Small College Basketball
John McCarthy is the face and voice of Small College Basketball. His passion and enthusiasm has generated great interest within Small College Basketball circles.
Created in May of 2010, this blog has quickly become integral to the growing interest in collegiate basketball at the NAIA, NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III levels, and is being actively read throughout American, and now throughout the world.
John McCarthy has served as an Assistant Coach, Head Coach, Athletic Development Director and Athletic Director, all at the small college level. He's served on the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball National Committee, created the Collegiate Basketball Invitational and as the Director of the NAIA's Division I Men's Basketball National Championship.
He is now the Founder of Small College Basketball and is a speaker for ProActive Coaching (www.proactivecoaching.info). John also serves as Executive Director of Charlie's House and as Commissioner of the National Women's Lacrosse League.
When opinions may be expressed within this blog, they are the personal opinions of John McCarthy or they are attributed appropriately.
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