NAIA Men’s Basketball National Championship Semifinal Round Recap
Semifinal Results | March 21, 2022
No. 1 Loyola (La.) def. No. 1 Arizona Christian 82-70 | Box Score
No. 2 Talladega (Ala.) def. No. 2 Thomas More (Ky.) 78-77 (OT) | Box Score
Championship Matchup | March 22, 2022
No. 1 Loyola (La.) vs. No. 2 Talladega (Ala.) – 7 pm.
News and Notes
Game 9 – Loyola (La.) vs. Arizona Christian
Loyola (La.) – No. 1 (Naismith)
-The Wolf Pack move to 36-1 on the season.
-They advance to their second NAIA Men’s Basketball National Championship game. Their only appearance they were crowned champs in 1945 with the 45-39 win over Pepperdine (Calif.)
-The win marks their 20th win in a row.
-The two-time SSAC Defensive Player of the Year, Myles Burns proves his offensive capabilities too, bumping up to No. 2 All-Time in Loyola (La.) history for points with 1,837 for his career after tonight’s 16-point performance.
-Burns has impressed this tournament averaging a double-double with 17.8 points a game and 10.8 rebounds per game.
-Zach Wrightsil led all scorers with 20 points. He shot 7-14 from the field and 6-11 from the free throw line.
-Loyola broke into the game on a 6-0 scoring run through first 2:52 of game.
-Three straight three pointers for the Wolf Pack, one by Jalen Galloway and two by Cameron Dumas, created a nine-point swing in the span of 36 seconds (7:55-7:14).
-Loyola led by as much as 23 points in the game.
-In the last 10 minutes of play in the opening half, the Wolf Pack outscored the Firestorm, 23-14 for the 11-point halftime lead 39-28.
-The Wolf Pack took advantage of 16 Firestorm turnovers for 23 points off of turnovers, while having the upper hand in steals with 10 compared to ACU’s four.
-Came into the matchup with 3rd in the nation in offensive rebounds per game with 15.5 and stayed true to that number with 14 offensive rebounds.
-They also improve to 13-6 overall at the NAIA Men’s Basketball National Tournament.
Arizona Christian – No. 1 (Cramer)
-The Firestorm close out 2022 with a 31-5 record.
-The loss ends a four-game winning streak.
-This marked Arizona Christian’s first-ever appearance in the Semifinals of the NAIA Men’s Basketball National Tournament.
-Scored four points to cut their deficit during a Wolf Pack scoring drought of 2:12, from 11:32 to 9:20 in the first half.
-No. 24 Bryce Davis had 10 points in the first half alone to lead his team in the half.
-Davis, a senior, was well above his season average of 9.9 points per game, finishing with 19 points, his second straight game of double-figure scoring and third game of the tournament with more than 10 points.
-Dennis Flowers III heated up in the second half with 14 points and had 15 for the game. He has double-figure scoring in four of the last five games.
-Entering the game they had a slightly higher shooting percentage from three-point range than the Wolf Pack at 36.7 to 34.1, but were held to only 5-27 from behind the arc at 18.5-percent.
-ACU was above their season average in turnovers per game of 12.7 against the swarming Wolf Pack in the contest. The Firestorm had 13 turnovers with 11:49 left in the game and had 16 when the night was over.
-The Firestorm now are 8-7 all-time in NAIA tournament play.
Game 11 –Thomas More (Ky.) vs. Talladega (Ala.)
Talladega (Ala.) – No. 2 (Duer)
-Talladega improves to 32-5 on the season.
-Appearing in their second NAIA semifinals.
-They are 7-3 all-time at the NAIA National Championship.
-The Tornadoes have been stout all year, holding teams to 38.3-percent from the field, third best in the NAIA. The Saints were held below their season average at 43.3-percent.
-The Tornadoes trailed 10-9 with 16:25 on the clock, but a 14-2 run over the next 5:51 firmly gave them the 23-12 lead.
-The Tornadoes outscored the Saints 39-27 in the first half.
-The leading scorer for Talladega was Cam Potts, who also, already holds the 2022 tournament-high for assists with 11, led all players with six assists.
-Additional help from the Tornado bench accounted for 17 first half points and 26 altogether, while Thomas More had nine.
-Between 7:43 and 4:49 in the second half, Talladega regained a 10-point advantage with an 11-2 scoring run.
-Edwin Louis had game defining moments in overtime with two makes from beyond the arc to give the Tornados their last six points and the eventual game-winning score. He exits the semifinal stage with 16 points on 6-7 from the field and 2-3 from three.
Thomas More (Ky.) – No. 2 (Liston)
-Thomas More closes out the year 31-5.
-A four-game win streak came to a head in the semifinals of the National Championship.
-They are now 6-4 all-time in the NAIA National Championship.
-Entered the game 5th in the nation in field-goal percentage at 50-percent, but were held slightly below their season average at 43.3-percent, while the Tornados shot 58.5-percent.
-No. 1 Ryan Batte, the Mid-South Conference Player of the Year, has been on a tear a the national tournament, averaging 20.2 points per game through four contests of the national tournament. He shattered that pace with a new tournament-leading 29-point performance.
-Five points began the comeback for the Saints in the first half cutting the Tornadoes lead to eight, the closest the game had been since 9:51 in the first half.
-At the 7:43 mark the Saints were able to come within one point of the Tornados, but were unable to create a lead change.
-The first overtime of the 2022 NAIA National tournament was brought about by a Saints 12-4 run in the last four minutes of regulation. The Saints outscored their challenger 41-29 in the second half.
-The Saints got to the line more than their opponent with 17-21 in free-throws, while the Tornados were 7-12.