2024 NAIA Men’s Basketball National Championship Quarterfinal Round Recap
Mar 23, 2024
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – All four No. 1 seeds advance to Monday’s NAIA National Championship Semifinals. This is the first time since 1972 that all four top seeds have advanced to the Fab Four.
Day One Results | March 21, 2024
No. 1 Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) def. No. 5 The Master’s (Calif.) 69-68 |BOX SCORE
No. 14 Central Baptist (Ark.) def. No. 2 Oklahoma Wesleyan 84-79 | BOX SCORE
No. 1 Grace (Ind.) def. No. 5 Northwestern (Iowa) 82-66 | BOX SCORE
No. 11 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) def. No. 15 Evangel (Mo.) 77-74 | BOX SCORE
Day Two Results | March 22, 2024
No. 1 Langston (Okla.) def. No. 12 LSU-Shreveport, 78-61 | BOX SCORE
No. 2 Indiana Wesleyan def. No. 3 Arizona Christian, 84-73 | BOX SCORE
No. 1 College of Idaho def. No. 5 Madonna (Mich.), 87-65 | BOX SCORE
No. 3 Morningside (Iowa) def. No. 2 Cumberlands (Ky.), 80-74 | BOX SCORE
Quarterfinals Results | March 23, 2024
No. 1 Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) def. No. 14 Central Baptist (Ark.), 85-74 | BOX SCORE
No. 1 Grace (Ind.) def. No. 15 Evangel (Mo.), 83-76 | BOX SCORE
No. 1 Langston (Okla.) def. No. 2 Indiana Wesleyan, 61-48 | BOX SCORE
No. 1 College of Idaho def. No. 3 Morningside (Iowa), 73-56 | BOX SCORE
News and Notes
Game 9 – No. 1 Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) def. No. 14 Central Baptist (Ark.), 85-74
GAME NOTES/HIGHLIGHTS
Prior to making this year’s NAIA Tournament, Central Baptist had been 0-3 in tournament play, they exit this year’s tournament after improving to 3-4 overall in tournament play
The Mustangs end their season with a record of 28-8, their best finish in program history
First appearance was in 2018
Trailed by 16 at the half, 46-30
DeShawn Coprew led the Mustangs in scoring through the first half of play with 12 points
Central Baptist was held to 39% (27-69) from the field
Three Mustangs recorded double figures in the contest: DeShawn Corprew (12), Sage Borbon (11), and Tonje Durham (11)
GAME NOTES/HIGHLIGHTS
FHU made history on Saturday, as they advance to the NAIA National Semifinals for the first time in program history
The Lions have now won 10-straight games dating back to February 10
Freed-Hardeman moves to 30-4 on the season and 8-8 all-time at the NAIA National Championship
The Lions shot 50-percent from the floor in the first half, on 17-of-34
They also shot 72.7-percent from three-point range in the first half, 8-of-11
For the game, they shot 50-percent from three, 11-of-22
The Lions defense held CBC to just 25.9-percent from three-point range on 7-of-27
FHU had five player score in double figures, including 12 each from Quan Lax and Sam Powell
Geraldo Lane and Chase Fiddler each scored 11 and Phil Hortan added 10
FHU had 14 steals in the victory with three each by Lax and Lane
The Lions had an impressive 48 bench points and 23 fast break points
The defense forced 18 turnovers and they conversely scored 25 point off of those turnovers
Game 10 – No. 1 Grace (Ind.) def. No. 15 Evangel (Mo.), 83-76
GAME NOTES/HIGHLIGHTS
Grace has made the NAIA Fab Four three times in its programs history
Their first appearance in the NAIA National Tournament was 1988
The Lancers won the NAIA national title in 1992
Grace led by three going into the halftime break, 37-34
The Lancers were led in the first half by Jake Wadding, scoring 10
Five players from Grace finished the contest in double-figures: Elijah Malone (16), Ian Scott (16), Jake Wadding (14), Jacob Gibbs (13), and Cade Gibbs (10)
Elijah Malone finished one rebound short of a double-double, with 16 points and nine rebounds
Grace shot just 19% (4-21) from the three-point line, while Evangel shot 43.5% (10-23)
Elijah Malone has finished in double-figures in 33 of the Lancers’ 35 games this season
The Lancers had 17 assists on their 28 made field goals with Malone and Scott tying for the team lead with four each
The Lancers have now won 10-straight games dating back to February 14
Grace had a terrific day at the free-throw line, shooting 85.2-percent on 23-of-27
They will now play for a spot in the NAIA National Championship game on Monday night at 5 pm CST inside Municipal Auditorium
GAME NOTES/HIGHLIGHTS
Evangel ends its season with an overall record of 21-11
The Valor were the lowest-seeded team left in the tournament at No. 15
EU has now appeared in 16 NAIA National Championship Tournaments
They are now 17-15 all-time at the event
The Valor won the NAIA National Championship in 2002
That was their only NAIA Fab Four appearance in program history
The Valor shot well from three-point range, shooting 9-of-22 for 40.9-percent
Carson Cavalier his an impressive six, three-point field goals, going 6-for-10
The Valor had three players score in double figures, with Cavalier leading the way with 18
Garrett Davault scored 13, while Josh Pritchett added 10
Game 11 – No. 1 Langston (Okla.) def. No. 2 Indiana Wesleyan, 61-48
GAME NOTES/HIGHLIGHTS
Langston is making its first trip to the NAIA Fab Four in school history
Head Coach Chris Wright previously coached Talladega (Ala.) to a Fab Four appearance in 2022. That season, he led his team to the national title game
First appearance in the NAIA National Tournament was 2004
Led by 12 after the first 30 minutes of action, 37-25
Anthony Roy poured in 13 points in the first half to lead the Lions in scoring
Langston held Indiana Wesleyan to the lowest point total of the season with 48. Their previous low was 71 points back on January 31 against Grace (Ind.)
The Lions shot 20-53 (38%) from the field and 5-16 (31%) from behind the arc
Two Lions finished in double-figures: Cortez Mosley (15), and Anthony Roy (13)
Langston held the Wildcats to 3-12 (25.0%) from the three-point line
The Lions forced 16 turnovers and capitalized on them by scoring 19 points
Langston outrebounded Indiana Wesleyan 39-32
GAME NOTES/HIGHLIGHTS
IWU ends its season with an overall record of 29-6
In 17 appearances at the NAIA National Championship Tournament, the Wildcats are now 38-13
DJ Moore led the Wildcats in scoring with 17 points
Javan Buchanan was the only other Wildcat to score in double figures with 12
The Wildcat defense forced 15 turnovers, scoring 14 points off of those turnovers
IWU scored 20 points in the paint and grabbed 10 offensive rebounds
This ended a four-game winning streak for the Wildcats
Game 12 – No. 1 College of Idaho def. No. 3 Morningside (Iowa), 73-56
GAME NOTES/HIGHLIGHTS
C-I has now won 27 of its last 28 games
This marks the third NAIA National Semifinals appearance for the Yotes
They are the defending NAIA Men’s Basketball National Champions, as they won inside Municipal Auditorium in 2023
College of Idaho has had a double-digit lead in 28 games this season
16 times COU has held an opponent to under 30 points in the first half, tonight they held the Mustangs to 27
The Yotes are now 32-3 on the season
Samaje Morgan filled up the stat sheet with a game-high 24 points, as well as five rebounds and three assists
The Yotes were nearly perfect from the free-throw line, shooting 13-of-14 for 92.9-percent.
COI outrebounded the Mustangs, 40-26
Nine different Yotes scored a point in the victory
Johnny Radford and Tyler Robinett joined Morgan in double figures scoring with 12 and 10 points respectively
GAME NOTES/HIGHLIGHTS
Morningside concludes their season with an overall record of 24-10
The Mustangs hold a record of 20-19 in NAIA Tournament play
First appearance in the NAIA National Tournament was 1937 in the very first NAIA National Tournament (then known as the NAIB)
Best finish was runner-up, also in 1937
Joey Skoff led the Mustangs in scoring at the half with 10
Two Mustangs recorded double-figures: Daniel Brocaille and Joey Skoff, each finish with 16 points
Morningside grabbed 14 assists, two more than College of Idaho