NAIA Men’s Basketball National Championship Day Two Recap
Mar 14, 2023
Men’s Basketball – Georgetown College
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – [Schedule | Bracket] The quarterfinal round was established as day two came to a close at the 2023 NAIA Men’s Basketball National Championship Final Site on Tuesday. Three-time national champion Georgetown (Ky.) advanced over a highly-talented Langston (Okla.) squad before No. 1-seeded Grace (Ind.) put together an impressive 19-point win to guarantee a game on Wednesday. In the evening sessions, Indiana Tech put one of the top defenses in the nation on display in its win over No. 3-seeded Jamestown (N.D.) just prior to Arizona Christian punching its ticket with a statement win in the final contest of the day.
First Round Results – Day Two | March 14, 2023
- No. 3 Georgetown (Ky.) def. No. 2 Langston (Okla.) 74-60
- No. 1 Grace (Ind.) def. No. 5 Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) 86-67
- No. 2 Indiana Tech def. No 3 Jamestown (N.D.) 61-51
- No. 1 Arizona Christian def. No. 4 Morningside (Iowa) 85-63
Quarterfinals Matchups | March 15, 2023
- No. 1 College of Idaho vs. No. 6 Tougaloo (Miss.) | 1:00 p.m. CT
- No. 4 Montana Tech vs. No. 7 OUAZ (Ariz.) | 3:00 p.m. CT
- No. 1 Grace (Ind.) vs. No. 3 Georgetown (Ky.) | 5:00 p.m. CT
- No. 1 Arizona Christian vs. No. 2 Indiana Tech | 7:00 p.m. CT
News and Notes
Game 5 – No. 2 Langston (Okla.) vs. No. 3 Georgetown (Ky.)
Langston (Okla.) – No. 2 (Duer)
– The Lions end their season with a record of 31-3.
– 7th appearance in the NAIA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
– Head Coach Chris Wright has led three different programs to the NAIA National Tournament (Central Baptist (Ark.), Talladega (Ala.), and Langston (Okla.).
– The Lions went a combined 1-37 over the past 2 seasons before going 31-3 this season and making the NAIA Round of 16.
– Leading scorer for the Lions this season has been Senior Forward Tristan Harper who is averaging 15.1 ppg.
– They rank second in the NAIA in scoring, averaging 89.9 ppg.
– The Lions were led in scoring by Tristan Harper with 22, while Toru Dean and AJ Rainey also finished in double figures with 14 and 11 points respectively.
Georgetown (Ky.) – No. 3 (Duer)
– Georgetown has the most appearances in the NAIA National Championship than any program in the tournament’s history with 42.
– The Tigers are 76-39 all-time in the event.
– Georgetown improves to 27-5 on the season.
– The Tigers are in search of their eighth appearance in the NAIA Fab Four. They have won three NAIA National Championships in their history.
– The Tigers had seven blocks as a team, three each from Cam Brooks-Harris and Drew LaMont.
– The Tigers outrebounded the Lions, 42-31.
– Kyran Jones led Georgetown in scoring with 21 points, on 8-of-15 shooting.
– Tae Dozier led the squad in assists with five.
Game 6 – Grace (Ind.) vs. Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.)
Grace (Ind.) – No. 1 (Duer)
– The Lancers advanced to the NAIA quarterfinals and improve to 31-3 on the season.
– 12th appearance in the NAIA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
– Last appearance in the tournament was in 2020, the last season that the NAIA had two divisions.
– Head Coach Scott Moore played for the Lancers from 2004-08 and helped lead the team to a finish in the NAIA quarterfinals his Senior year.
– The Lancers have three players who lead the team in scoring: Frankie Davidson (14.9 ppg), Elijah Malone (14.7 ppg), and Jakob Gibbs (14.4 ppg).
– The Lancers were led in scoring today by Junior Forward Elijah Malone with 19 points, while Sophomore Guards Jakob Gibbs (16 points), Cade Gibbs (14 points), Junior Forward Jake Wadding (11 points) and Senior Forward Frankie Davidson (11 points) also scored in double figures for the team.
– Grace had 24 assists on its 33 made field goals.
– Grace shot 61.1-percent from the field on 33-of-54.
Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) – No. 5 (Duer)
– The loss snaps an eight-game winning streak.
– Freed-Hardeman ends its season with a record of 25-9.
– FHU was nearly perfect from the free-throw line, shooting 15-of-16, good for 93.8-percent.
– The FHU defense forced 18 turnovers and had nine steals.
– Seven different Lions collected a steal.
– Peyton Law led all Lions with 16 points.
– Brandon Thomas was the other Lion to finish with double figures in scoring with 13.
– FHU is now 4-8 all-time in the NAIA National Championship.
Game 7 –Indiana Tech vs. Jamestown (N.D.)
Indiana Tech – No. 2 (Liston)
– Indiana Tech improves to 30-4 on the season.
– The Warriors are in search of their first-ever appearance in the NAIA National Semifinals.
– ITU is now 9-13 all-time at the National Championship in 15 apperances.
– The Indiana Tech defense was stifling, they held Jamestown to just 29-percent shooting on 18-of-62.
– They also held the Jimmies to just 22.2-percent from three-point range on 4-of-18.
– Rog Stein was the lone Warrior to score in double figures, with a team-high 17 points.
– ITU outscored the Jimmies, 34-18, in the paint
Jamestown (N.D.) – No. 3 (Liston)
– The Jimmies end their season with a record of 27-7.
– 13th appearance in the NAIA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
– This year marks the third year in a row that the Jimmies have made it to Kansas City.
– Head Coach Danny Neville has been at Jamestown for 8 seasons, making the NAIA tournament in four of those seasons.
– Senior Forward Mason Walters leads the Jimmies in scoring at 26.6 ppg and ranks second overall in the NAIA in that category.
– Jamestown ranks eighth in the NAIA in scoring at 86 points per game and ranks first in the NAIA in Offensive Efficiency.
– Won a share of the Great Plains Athletic Conference regular season title
– Led in scoring by Mason Walters with 26 points while Junior Guard Cole Woodford also finished in double figures with 13 points.
Game 8 – Arizona Christian vs. Morningside (Iowa)
Arizona Christian – No. 1 (Liston)
– The Firestorm advanced to the quarterfinals and improve to 27-5 on the season
– Ninth appearance in the NAIA Men’s Basketball Tournament
– This year marks the fifth year in a row that the Firestorm have played in the NAIA National Tournament.
– Head Coach Jeff Rutter has been at ACU for 11 seasons and reached the 250 win mark this season.
– Under Coach Rutter, the Firestorm have qualified for the NAIA National Tournament nine times.
– The Firestorm are led in scoring by junior guard Dennis Flowers III averaging 13.1 ppg.
– Won the Golden State Athletic Conference regular season title.
– Led in scoring by Senior Forward Bryce Davis (16 points), while Angelo Johnson (14 points), Trent Hudgens (14 points), Dennis Flowers III (12 points), and KeyVaughn Williams (10 points) also finished in double figures for ACU.
Morningside (Iowa) – No. 4 (Liston
– The Mustangs end their season, 24-8.
– Morningside is now 18-18 all-time at the NAIA National Championship and have made 19 appearances.
– This is year two for head coach Trent Miller leading the Mustangs.
– Three Mustangs scored in double figures, as Jack Dotzler led the way with 14 points.
– Trey Powers led the team in rebounding with eight.
– Dotzler also led the squad in assists with eight.
