Teams Inside the Pod
#1 William Penn
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24-1 Overall
Heart of America Regular Season Champions
Heart of America Tournament Champions
#2 Overall Seed
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Ranks Numberย 1ย in Division I in Assists per Game (20.400)
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Ranks Numberย 1ย in Division I in Defensive Rebounds per Game (36.040)
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Ranks Numberย 1ย in Division I in Scoring Offense per Game (101.160)
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Ranks Numberย 1ย in Division I in Total Rebounds per Game (50.880)
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Ranks Numberย 1ย in Division I in Total Rebound Margin (17.840)
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Ranks Numberย 1ย in Division I in Total Total Rebound Offense (1272)
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Ranks Numberย 2ย in Division I in Scoring Margin (26.280)
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Ranks Numberย 3ย in Division I in Total Assists (510)
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Ranks Numberย 4ย in Division I in Offensive Rebounds per Game (14.840)
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Ranks Numberย 4ย in Division I in Total Blocks (132)
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Ranks Numberย 4ย in Division I in Total Scoring Offense (2529)
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Ranks Numberย 6ย in Division I in Field Goal Pct (0.517)
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Ranks Numberย 6ย in Division I in Blocks per Game (5.280)
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Ranks Numberย 7ย in Division I in Field Goal Pct Defense (0.387)
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Ranks Numberย 16ย in Division I in Assist/Turnover Ratio (1.371)
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Ranks Numberย 28ย in Division I in Total 3-Pt FG Made (234)
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Ranks Numberย 40ย in Division I in Total Rebound Defense (33.040)
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Ranks Numberย 41ย in Division I in Total Steals (179)
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Ranks Numberย 44ย in Division I in 3-Pt Fg Made per Game (9.360)
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#2 MACU
11-4 Overall
SAC Tournament Runners-Up
#24 Overall Seed
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Ranks Numberย 5ย in Division I in Field Goal Pct Defense (0.383)
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Ranks Numberย 15ย in Division I in Defensive Rebounds per Game (30.733)
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Ranks Numberย 31ย in Division I in Total Rebounds per Game (40.400)
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Ranks Numberย 33ย in Division I in 3-Pt Fg Pct Defense (0.314)
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Ranks Numberย 36ย in Division I in Scoring Margin (8.733)
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Ranks Numberย 45ย in Division I in Scoring Defense per Game (71.333)
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#3 Holy Cross
13-6 Overall
CCAC Regular Season Runners-Up
#40 Overall Seed
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Ranks Numberย 3ย in Division I in 3-Pt Fg Pct (0.414)
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Ranks Numberย 20ย in Division I in Total Rebound Defense (31.947)
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Ranks Numberย 26ย in Division I in Free Throw Pct (0.745)
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Ranks Numberย 37ย in Division I in Assist/Turnover Ratio (1.200)
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Ranks Numberย 40ย in Division I in Field Goal Pct (0.480)
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Ranks Numberย 43ย in Division I in Scoring Defense per Game (71.211)
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Top Players
#2 Kevion Blaylock 6’7 Sr. – 17.1ppg, 9.9rpg
2020-21 Heart of America Player of the Year
2019-20 3rd Team All-Americanย
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Ranks Numberย 10ย in Division I in Total Total Rebounds (246)
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Ranks Numberย 14ย in Division I in Field Goal Pct (0.622)
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Ranks Numberย 15ย in Division I in Defensive Rebounds per Game (7.640)
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Ranks Numberย 16ย in Division I in Total Rebounds per Game (9.840)
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Ranks Numberย 38ย in Division I in Free Throw Pct (0.845)
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Ranks Numberย 46ย in Division I in Total Scoring (428)
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#0 Kamari Newman 6’4 Sr. – 15.7ppg, 3.3rpg
2020-21 1st Team All-Heart of America
2019-20 All-American
Ranks Numberย 19ย in Division I in Total 3-Pt FG Made (70)
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Ranks Numberย 50ย in Division I in 3-Pt Fg Made per Game (2.800)
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#23 Eddie Daily 6’9 Sr. – 9.3pprg, 7.5rpg, 1.5bpg
ย 2020-21 HM All-Heart of America
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Ranks Numberย 29ย in Division I in Blocks per Game (1.524)
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Ranks Numberย 31ย in Division I in Total Blocks (32)
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#1 Tony Dorsey 6’0 Sr. – 11.8ppg, 4.5rpg, 3.3spg
2020-21 HM All-SAC
#3 Jordan Gains 6’4 Sr. – 13.4ppg, 3.4rpg
2020-21 1st Team All-CCAC
Points Per Game Leaders
1.ย ย ย ย ย Storm Cook HC ย 17.39
2.ย ย ย ย ย Terrence Jones MACUย 17.42
3.ย ย ย ย ย Kevion Blaylock WPย 17.12
4.ย ย ย ย ย Kamari Newman WPย 15.72
5.ย ย ย ย ย Noel Mpie HC ย 14.11ย
Rebounds Per Game Leaders
1.ย ย ย ย ย Kevion Blaylock WPย 9.84
2.ย ย ย ย ย Noel Mpie HCย 8.42
3.ย ย ย ย ย Terrence Jones MACU ย 8.25
4.ย ย ย ย ย Eddie Daley WPย 7.48
5.ย ย ย ย ย Domminick Ford MACU ย 6.2ย
Assist Per Game Leaders
1.ย ย ย ย ย Chanze Cruesoe WPย ย 4.4
2.ย ย ย ย ย Q Cager WP ย 3.84
3.ย ย ย ย ย Jordan Gaines HCย 3.26
4.ย ย ย ย ย Tony Dorsey MACU ย 3.25
5.ย ย ย ย ย Beau Ludwick HC ย 2.95ย
Matchups
This is a MACU team that was preseason Top 5 in the NAIA. They have seemed to have struggled to be at full strength all season! They will once again enter the weekend without their leading scorer Terrance Jones. However, this same squad that will be taking the floor did knock off #8 SAGU in the SAC Semifinals. This is still a very capable group who is so well coached!
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This Holy Cross team kind of got the short end of the stick in the CCAC Tournament when they were the 2-seed and had to go up against the defending CCAC Tournament Champions IUSB due to South Bend not playing a regular season game. IUSB went on to win the CCAC Tourney for a 2nd straight year. We will see if that lights a fire under the Saints! They tend to play a slow, methodical style of play and let Gains and Cook beat you late in the shot clock. There best hope to make it to KC is to control the tempo in both games!
The Statesmen are one of the most deep teams in the NAIA Tournament. They like to sub 5 guys in and out and it has allowed their guys to play so hard every time out on the floor. The formula has worked for the Statesmen as they eventually wear on teams enough to take over and win games! This team is dangerous when they decide to defend people too, they are very underrated defensively because they give up so many points with the tempo they play at and giving up a lot more possessions over the course of a game.
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Winner of #2 MACU vs #3 Holy Cross
MACU being a preseason Top 5 team makes them a bit of a wildcard here! We know they aren’t fully healthy, but they are still really talented and if they are hitting 3’s they can win this game. They hit 17 of them in the upset win over #8 SAGU in the SAC Semi’s. Holy Cross is going to try to force both teams to play slow! They work to get great shots and make you pay for breakdowns. The 1st game, especially being an 11am start, could be a really long, slow, drawn out game!
The winner will get the high flying, high tempo Statesmen of William Penn. WP shares the ball so well and looks like they have a lot of fun playing with one another. Sure the two All-Americans are really dang good, but this is a team that twice now has scored 95pts or more without a single player going for more than 15pts in the game. It’s hard to just focus a game plan on 1 or 2 guys!
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