KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The 2022 NAIA Men’s Basketball National Championship is down for four teams, as No. 1 Loyola (La.), No. 1 Arizona Christian, No. 2 Thomas More (Ky.) and No. 2 Talladgea (Ala.) have all advanced to the NAIA Fab Four. The four teams will next battle on Monday, March 21 in the NAIA National Semifinals in historic Municipal Auditorium.

First Round Results – Day Three | March 19, 2022

No. 1 Loyola (La.) def. No. 3 College of Idaho 60-53 |

No. 1 Arizona Christian def. No. 3 William Jessup 90-79 (Calif.)

No. 2 Thomas More (Ky.) def. Oklahoma Wesleyan 59-56

No. 2 Talladega (Ala.) def. No. 5 Concordia (Neb.) 77-69

Semifinals Matchups | March 21, 2022

No. 1 Loyola vs. No. 1 Arizona Christian – 5 pm

No. 2 Talladega (Ala.) vs. No. 2 Thomas More – 7 pm

News and Notes

Game 9 – Loyola (La.) vs. College of Idaho

Loyola (La.) – No. 1 (Naismith)

– The Wolf Pack improve to 35-1 on the season.

– Extended winning streak to 19 with National Quarterfinals win.

– No. 1 in the NAIA in steals per game (13.9); finished the game with 11.

– Scored 32 points off turnovers, 13th time this season they have scored 30 or more in that category.

– No. 2 in the NAIA in points per game (90.9); field goals per game (34.1); offensive rebounds (15.6); assists per game (20.3)

– Zach Wrightsil – 5-time Southern States Athletic Conference Player of the Year; 18.7 ppg, 8.7 rpg. Finished the game with the game with 15 points and 9 rebounds.

– Wolfpack now 13-6 all-time in the NAIA National Tournament

– Loyola last won the NAIA Men’s Basketball National Championship in 1945.

College of Idaho – No. 3 (Naismith)

– The Yotes end the season 32-5.

– Quarterfinal loss snaps a 14-game winning streak.

– COI is No. 2 in the NAIA in rebounding margin (10.9); finished with a margin of 15, holding a 53-38 advantage.

– No. 7 NAIA scoring defense (63.4). Held Loyola to 60 points – the lowest point total for Loyola this season.

– Ricardo Time, the Cascade Collegiate Conference Player of the Year, averaged 12.7 ppg; and Drew Wyman CCC Freshman of the Year, averaged 11.6 ppg. Time finished with seven points and 12 rebounds, and Wyman added 10 points and six rebounds.

– College of Idaho was led in scoring by Jake O’Neil with 14 points. It marked the fifth time in the last six games he has scored in double figures.

– Yotes fall to 28-22 with today’s Quarterfinal loss all-time in the NAIA Tournament.

Game 10 – Arizona Christian vs. William Jessup (Calif.)

Arizona Christian – No. 1 (Cramer)

– The Firestorm improve to 31-4 on the season.

– This marked their 11^th-straight win over GSAC conference rival William Jessup, dating back to the 2017-18 season.

– Angelo Johnson – GSAC Defensive Player of the Year; entered the game with 59 steals (34th in the NAIA). Only tallied one steal, but led the team in scoring with 20 points. This also marked his seventh straight game in double figures and third time this season with 20 or more points.

– Robby Wilson, who was selected a All-GSAC player finished with 11 points for second straight game. Averaged 10.6 this season, finished above his average for the 19th time in 34 games.

– Finished the game with a 52-32 advantage in points in the paint – second highest total of the season and third time they scored 50 or more in the paint.

– Moves to 8-6 all-time in the NAIA National Tournament.

William Jessup (Calif.) – No. 3 (Cramer)

– The Warriors end their season with a record of 30-7.

– The Warriors came into the tournament ranked No. 9 in the NAIA in 3-point percentage (38.1) and finished the game at 44.0 percent (11 of 25).

– Loss extends losing streak to Arizona Christian to 11 games.

– Cashemin Williams – GSAC Player of the Year (second ever in program history); who averaged 18.4 ppg, 53.8 percent from the floor and 52.8 percent from beyond the 3-point arc (4th in the NAIA), finished game with 12 points, and was held scoreless from beyond the arc for the 8th time in 36 games.

– Myles Corey – All-GSAC second team. 14.9 ppg, 65 3-pointers headed into the Quarterfinals. Fouled out with 9 points hitting 2 of 3 from beyond the arc.

– Tim Strijaous scored a game-high 28 points to set a new season and career high (second season with program).

– Finished with 9 points off the bench, entered the Quarterfinals with an average of 24.3 points. Third game of four in the National Tournament they were limited to single-digits off the bench.

– Moves to 4-4 all-time in the NAIA National Tournament.

Game 11 – Oklahoma Wesleyan vs. Thomas More (Ky.)

Oklahoma Wesleyan – No. 1 (Liston)

– The Eagles end their season, 32-3.

– Loss snaps a 12-game winning streak.

– 19-8 all-time in the NAIA National Tournament.

– Entered the game ranked third in rebound margin, but were outrebounded 37-32.

– No. 4 in the NAIA in scoring defense (62.0); held Thomas More to 59 – 20.5 points under     their season average.

– Entered Quarterfinals with five players averaging over 8.0 ppg, led by Jaden Leitzke       (Unanimous 1st team All-KCAC) at 12.8 and Brandon Bird (2nd team All-KCAC) at 11.9. Lietzke finished with 6, Bird finished with 7.

– New season low in scoring at 56; previous low was 66 in a 66-54 win over Tabor on Nov.  17.

– Eight players scored 5 of more points for Oklahoma Wesleyan led by Taylen Miller with  10.

Thomas More (Ky.) – No. 2 (Liston)

– St. Thomas More improves to 30-4.

– Moves to 6-3 All-Time at the Championship and advances to their first-ever NAIA National Semifinals.

– Entered the game as the No. 5 ranked team in the NAIA in field goal percentage (50.1); finished at 47.8 percent.

– No. 3 NAIA turnovers per game (8.8); finished with 15, matching their season high back on Nov. 14.

– Ryan Batte – Mid-South Conference Player of the Year; 21.1 ppg average (No. 17 NAIA) headed into Quarterfinals. With 23 points and 11 rebounds he records the tournaments third double-double inside Municipal Auditorium. His 11 rebounds mark a new final-site high.

– With 37 rebounds, recorded their 15th game of 35 or more out of 35 games played this season.

– First No. 2 seed to advance out their Quadrant (Liston) to Semifinal round – Talladega only remaining No. 2 with a chance to qualify for Semifinals.

Game 12 – Talladega (Ala.) vs. Concordia (Neb.)

Talladega (Ala.) – No. 2 (Duer)

– Talladega improves to 31-5 on the season.

– Winners of 4 of their last 5 entering the Quarterfinals

– 6-3 all-time in the National Tournament.

– Only needed 67 points in their previous two games to win; heading into the Quarterfinals they are averaging 75.3 ppg.

– Top scoring defense in the NAIA – held Concordia to 00 points, 00 below their season average of 80 points.

– Second game of the tournament against an opponent from the GPAC, beating Jamestown (N.D.) 67 56 in Round of 16

– Kamron Brice finishes with 20 points, hitting 6 of 11 3-pointers – second most in a game at the final site.

– Second No. 2 to advance to Semifinal Round; will play the other No. 2 Thomas More for a trip to the championship game.

Concordia (Neb.) – No. 5 (Duer)

– The Bulldogs end their season at 28-7.

– Loss snaps an 8-game winning streak.

– Lowest seed to qualify for the Quarterfinals at No. 5

– 14-11 all-time in the National Tournament.

– Carter Kent (15.9 ppg, Gage Smith (13.9) ppg, 7.9 rpg) – 1st Team All-GPAC. Kent finished with 12 and Smith finished with 8.

– AJ Watson led the Bulldogs with a game-high 21 points, enter the Quarterfinals with an average of 9.6. New season high comes a game after going scoreless in the win over IU Kokomo.

– Noah Schutte scored 15 points in the loss, exceeding his season average of 13.8 for the fifth straight game.

– Entered the Quarterfinals averaging 8.5 3-pointers per game; held to 5 or fewer 3-pointers for the seventh time this season.