NAIA MEN
Langston 72, Ave Maria 69, OT
After opening round wins over Bethel (73-65) and Eastern Oregon (86-59), the Lions squeaked by Oklahoma Wesleyan 56-55 Friday, defeated Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 60-55 Saturday and came back to take down Ave Maria 72-69 in overtime Monday to reach the NAIA national championship game. It is the Lions second trip to the national title game in three years.
Orlando Thomas led Langston with 17 points. Trey Clarke had 12 points and nine rebounds, Antonio Lewis finished with 11, and Omar Henry tossed in 10 points and five rebounds for the Lions (29-7) in the win.
NCAA MEN
FIRST FOUR – MIDWEST REGION
Howard 86, UMBC 83
DAYTON, OH – MEAC champion and 16th-seeded Howard got great contributions from a bevy of players and held on down the stretch to squeak by America East champion UMBC 86-83 for its first-ever NCAA Tournament win at the Midwest Region First Four here Tuesday evening.
The Bison (24-10), under head coach Kenny Blakeney, led 49-41 at the break and were up 83-72 with 2:23 to play before the Retrievers pulled within two twice in the final minute.
Six-five senior forward Ose Okojie led the team with a career-high 23 points. Six-four grad guard Bryce Harris had 19 points and a game and season-high 14 rebounds. Cedric Taylor, a 6-7 junior forward transfer from Morehouse, had 16 points and 6 rebounds. Junior point guard Sam Gillis had 8 points and handed out 7 assists. Junior 6-4 forward Alex Cotton had 8 points and sophomore forward Travelle Bryson 11 points off the bench.
Howard advanced to meet Midwest Region top seed Michigan (31-3) in Thursday’s second round in Buffalo, NY.
FIRST FOUR – SOUTH REGION
Prairie View A&M 67, Lehigh 55
DAYTON, OH – The same trio of grad guard Dontae Horne, senior forward Cory Wells and senior point guard Lance Williams that led Prairie View A&M to four wins in five days to take the SWAC Tournament championship a week earlier, led the Panthers (19-17) to a historic win, a 67-55 victory over Patriot League champion Lehigh in the NCAA Tournament South Region First Four Wednesday evening, the first NCAA Tourney win in program history.
Horne, the SWAC tournament MVP, had a team-high 23 points with 7 rebounds and 4 steals. Wells had 19 points and a team-high 11 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 blocks. Williams had 10 points while directing the offense. The trio accounted for 52 of the Panthers’ 67 total points. Six-eight junior forward Hassane Diallo came off the bench to score 8 points, grab eight rebounds, block three shots and get his hands on several balls that he tipped to his teammates.
The 16th-ranked Panthers advanced to face No. 1 South Region seed Florida (26-7) on Friday, March 20 at 9:25 p.m. in Tampa, Fla.
FIRST ROUND – MIDWEST REGION
Michigan 101, Howard 80
BUFFALO, NY – MEAC champion Howard hung with Midwest Region top seed Michigan for a half, only trailing 50-46 at the break, before the Wolverines slowly pulled away to a 101-80 win in a first round NCAA Tournament matchup.
Michigan (32-3) shot 65.3% (17-of-26) in the first half and 65.8% (20-of-29) in the second half to grow the lead to as much as 31 points in the final minutes.
Cam Gillis and Bryce Harris both had 21 points and Cedric Taylor III 19 to lead the 16th-seeded Bison (24-11).
FIRST ROUND – MIDWEST REGION
Iowa State 108, Tennessee State 74
ST. LOUIS, MO – Powered by a 23-0 first-half run, region 2nd-seed Iowa State ran out to a 55-29 halftime lead and cruised to a 108-74 win over 15th-seed OVC champion Tennessee State in a first round Midwest Region match up.
The ISU (28-7) lead never dipped below that halftime margin though TSU (23-10) scored 45 second-half points. The Tigers were led by 6-6 senior guard Aaron Nkrumah’s 21 points and 6-8 junior forward Antoine Lorick III’s 20.
FIRST ROUND – SOUTH REGION
Florida 114, Prairie View A&M 55
TAMPA, FL – South Region top seed Florida used its size and depth to overwhelm SWAC champion Prairie View A&M 114-65 in Friday’s first round game.
The Gators (27-7) built an insurmountable 60-21 lead at the half on 75.0% shooting (24 of 32). They ended up shooting 64.3% (45 of 70) for the game with seven players scoring in double digits. Prairie View (19-18), seeded 16th in the region, got 16 from Tai’Reon Joseph and 12 from Dontae Horne.
NCAA WOMEN
FIRST FOUR – SACRAMENTO 4 REGIONAL
Southern 65, Samford 53
COLUMBIA, SC – SWAC champion Southern got its second consecutive First Four win Thursday as they pulled away in the fourth quarter from Southern Conference champion Samford for a 65-53 win.
The teams were tied at 44 thru three quarters but the Lady Jaguars (20-13) crafted a 21-9 advantage in the final period fueled by 6-1 sophomore forward DeMaya Porter’s effort. Porter had ten of her 15 points and eight of her 12 rebounds in the second half. Grad guard Jayla Reed led Southern with 16 points while SWAC Tourney MVP Jocelyn Tate had 10.
FIRST ROUND – FORT WORTH I REGIONAL
Ohio State 75, Howard 54
COLUMBUS, OH – MEAC women’s champion, 14th-seeded Howard, came out strong but was on the short end of a 23-4 second quarter that proved to be its undoing as the Bison fell, 75-54, to 3rd-seeded Ohio State in the first round of the Fort Worth I Regional.
Howard (26-8) got 15 points and 6 rebounds from 6-2 senior forward Zennia Thomas, the MEAC Tourney MVP, 14 and a team-high 10 rebounds from freshman point guard Ariella Henigan and 12 points from redshirt junior Zoe Stewart.
FIRST ROUND – SACRAMENTO 4 REGIONAL
South Carolina 103, Southern 34
COLUMBIA, SC – Region top seed South Carolina limited SWAC champion and 16th-seed Southern to just two third-quarter points allowing the Gamecocks (32-3) to pull away from a 44-19 halftime edge and post a 103-34 win.
The Lady Jaguars (20-14) managed just 12 field goals in the game and shot a combined 12 of 65 (18.4%) for the game. SWAC Tournament MVP Jocelyn Tate was the only Southern player to score in double figures with 10 points.
WNIT WOMEN
Maryland-Eastern Shore 59, Wake Forest 48
WINSTON-SALEM, NC – Maryland Eastern Shore produced a 14-0 scoring burst in the final four-and-a-half minutes of the game to wipe out a late 48-45 deficit and knock off the ACC’s Wake Forest 59-48 in a first round WNIT game on the road Friday.
The win gives the Lady Hawks (20-14) their first-ever postseason win, in its second year under head coach Malikah Willis, and first-ever win against a power conference opponent.
A pair of freshmen led the Hawks as Desi Taylor scored 19 points with five three-pointers and Kaliya Perry recorded a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds while adding four steals, three rebounds and a block. Dakieran Turner led the Hawks on the boards with 16 rebounds while adding four points, a block and a steal. Kalise Hill dished out 11 assists while scoring a pair of points and grabbing three rebounds and two steals.
The Lady Hawks advanced to the WNIT second round where they will be on the road at Youngstown State (24-9) Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
Loyola Chicago 58, Norfolk State 54
NORFOLK, VA – Loyola Chicago converted four free throws in the game’s final second – one at the line on a common foul and three on technical fouls assessed against Norfolk State – to grab a bizarre 58-54 first round WNIT road win Saturday.
The teams were tied at 54 with one second remaining when the oddities occurred. Prior to the wild ending, the teams entered the final period knotted at 40. Da’Brya Clark’s 19 points led NSU (18-15).
South Alabama 73, Alcorn State 65
LORMAN, MS – SWAC regular season runners-up Alcorn State got 17 points from senior Kiarra Henderson and 16 points and 14 rebounds from grad senior Nakia Cheatham but it was not enough as the Braves fell at home Saturday to South Alabama, 73-65.
WBIT WOMEN
Brigham Young 72, Alabama A&M 47
PROVO, UT – WBIT top seed Brigham Young outscored SWAC regular season champion Alabama A&M by at least seven points in the first three quarters en route to a 72-47 first round win Thursday.
SWAC Player of the Year, guard Kalia Walker’s 20 points led A&M (22-11) with 6-5 grad student Moses Davenport scoring 10 points and pulling down 10 rebounds.
