Week 2 was an AMAZING week of NAIA basketball! So many great matchups, games and performances! The Dunk of the Week nominees were BIG time! We are putting together a highlight reel that should be out later this week, that features them all! Here is this week’s Recap By Categories:
Best Win | RV Peru State (NE) defeats #3 Georgetown (KY), 84-68.
I got a front row seat to this one and left really impressed with Peru State. Victor Lado, Ashton Lovette and the Bobcats have size, talent and if they keep shooting the ball well, they will be a really tough team to beat in the Heart of America. Peru State is averaging 92.8ppg and in this one, they just brought a lot of juice and energy. Which is easier to do when your opponent has a #3 next to their name! Ashton Lovette finished with 27pts, 15rebs and 4assts! Keep your eyes on the Bobcats!
Best Upset | Huntington beating #19 Morningside (IA), 86-77
Not the upset of the highest ranked opponent, but the best upset goes to Huntington. The Foresters came into the weekend after a tough loss at Ohio Christian on Wednesday. They responded well though with two big wins over Briar Cliff and then finishing up the weekend with the upset over #19 Morningside. The Briar Cliff win gave Jared Jauch his first win as head coach. Overall, a great confidence building weekend for a team with a lot of new faces!
Best Game | #2 Arizona Christian vs #3 Georgetown (KY)
Does it help that I was at this game? ABSOLUTELY! But also, this was just a great game vs two programs who are used to big games! It was physical, featured players making big plays and just had an overall feel and flow of a game you see inside Muni in the Round of 16 games! In the end, Georgetown won 76-75. The final minute of the game saw 3 different lead changes! The game saw 16 ties and 18 different lead changes! Really fun and competitive game that went down to final possession!
Best Offense | Dalton State (GA)
Dalton State is 3-0 and scored 124, 80 and 104 in their wins this week. They are shooting 56% from the field, 43% from 3 as they average 102.7ppg. They are 7th in the NAIA in OFFEFF at 1.339. NPOY candidate, Qualen Pettus is averaging 21ppg, 5.5rpg, 2apg. Kota Benson is averaging 20.6ppg, 4rpg, 6apg!
MVP | Cademon Bontrager, Indiana Wesleyan
The NPOY candidate had a great 3 game stretch this week. Including a BIG game vs #21 Indiana Tech as he helped IWU move to 3-0!
vs Kuyper | 21pts, 10rebs
vs Cornerstone | 15pts, 15rebs
vs Indiana Tech | 30pts, 16rebs
Defensive MVP | Seviuhn Turner, Xavier (LA)
The 6’5 Jr. Forward was a defensive beast in XULA’s win over SUNO. Seviuhn ended the game with 8rebs, 6stls and 2blks to go with 19pts.
Coach | Troy Brown, St. Mary (KS)
St. Mary was in consideration for stock risers list, BUT we already had them at #20 in our preseason poll, so while others may be surprised over their big weekend, we weren’t as much! Coach Brown has the Spires at 2-0 after wins vs RV Georgia Gwinnett and #4 Langston (OK). The Langston win avenged their loss from the National tourney last season. The Spires are a team who has looked good early and Coach Brown and staff has done a great job with this team!
Best Defense | College of Idaho
The defending national champs came out and rolled Carroll on the road this weekend. They won 92-63 and held last week’s offensive team of the week to just 36% from the field. The Yotes, looked really good on both sides of the floor!
Pippen | Shaud Bradley, Arizona Christian
This is a very talented ACU squad, but Shaud Bradley, a 6’3 Junior Guard, has been excellent next to NAIA POY candidate, Ese Onakpoma. In ACU’s 3 games at the Remy Williams Memorial Invitational, Shaud put up 14pts, 9rebs, 2stls vs RV Peru State, 19pts, 9rebs, 3assts, 2stls against Park (MO) and 14pts, 6assts, 5rebs, 2stls on #3 Georgetown. He has been really consistent in the ACU lineup in the early part of the season!
Onions | Daylan Hamilton, Texas Wesleyan
Not just a buzzer-beater, but one to knock off #13 LSU Alexandria! Great call/play design, by assistant coach, Tevin Baker, who was acting as head coach! Texas Wesleyan had a big weekend!
Best Sniper/Shooter | Kaeden Bonner, Saint Mary (KS)
Bonner dropped 32pts on 8-9 from 3 against Georgia Gwinnett this past weekend. He has USM at 2-0 after a big weekend where he shot 71% from 3!
Stock Riser | Columbia (MO)
Columbia is always a tough place to play. It’s always kind of been a place where ranked opponents have always seemed to leave with a loss. Or at the very best, they left with a 1 or 2pt win. With that, we will see what Columbia can do from here, but on Saturday, they didn’t just beat #23 Graceland, they blew them out with the 93-66 win.
Rodman | Danny Oravbiere, Texas Wesleyan
Danny had a good weekend in TWU’s two good wins! The LSUA game was a big time “Rodman” game though as he went for 6pts, 15rebs and 6blocks in the Rams upset win.
Best Sophomore | Jesse Van Kalsbeek and Jalen Langsy, Northwestern (IA)
Put them in whatever category you want this week. The two sensational sophomores are already on an absurd run this season as they continue to put up video game like numbers! I am still trying to find out if two teammates have ever scored 40 or more points in the same game before. I am coming up empty so far, but that is exactly what these two did on Saturday vs Saint Francis (IN).
Van Kalsbeek | 44pts, 14rebs, 4assists
Langsy | 41pts, 6rebs, 6assts
Best Freshman | Gavin Betten, Grace (IN)
Gavin, through his first 3 games of his career has really played well. In his two games this week, Gavin went for 11pts, 4rebs, 2 assts against #19 Morningside and 17pts, 6rebs in the Lancers’ win vs Briar Cliff! Grace has a really tough group of Freshman who are playing well.
Best Dunk | KJ Marshall, McPherson (KS)
This was the hardest category to select this week! So many great dunks. KJ Marshall though, catching multiple bodies, off of two feet, gets the nod from us!
