Daily Dive — October 24: Coach OB’s 400th Win, Friday Finals and a Full Saturday of NAIA Hoops

Daily Dive October 24: Coach OB, Matt O’Brien of Southwestern, reaches 400 career wins. — Official coach portrait: Southwestern Athletics. NAIA Hoops Report graphic.

Saturday, October 24, 2026

Four hundred wins for Coach OB. A familiar coaching matchup in Arizona. Tight finishes, big individual nights and a full Saturday of NAIA hoops ahead. There is plenty to dive into this morning.

400 wins for Coach OB!

A big opening-weekend salute to Matt O’Brien. Southwestern’s head coach picked up career win No. 400 Friday as the Moundbuilders beat Calvary, 93–40. Southwestern’s official recap puts O’Brien at 400–216 for his career.

Eli Sawyers delivered 16 points, 10 rebounds and four assists while shooting 7-for-9. Southwestern handed out 24 assists against seven turnovers and won the rebounding battle 61–25. A milestone win and a strong start for the Builders.

The boss gets this one: Rutter’s ACU tops Peters’ Taylor

Jeff Rutter got the win against his former assistant. No. 3 Arizona Christian beat RV Taylor, 78–68, Friday at the Fultz Classic.

Taylor head coach Austin Peters previously worked on Rutter’s Arizona Christian staff. The archived Firestorm coaching biography documents that connection, adding another layer to an early-season matchup between the GSAC and Crossroads League programs. This round belonged to the boss. Official result.

Top 25 scoreboard: Friday finals

Rankings are from the October 21 NAIA preseason coaches poll. RV means receiving votes, not a numbered Top 25 ranking.

No. 1 Grace 99, IU Northwest 83. Official results.
No. 3 Arizona Christian 78, RV Taylor 68. Official results.
No. 10 Cumberlands 102, Simmons 67. The Patriots opened with a 35-point win and a career milestone for Brant Smithers. Game recap.

Down to the wire: games decided by 10 or fewer

Briar Cliff 90, Mount Mercy 87. A three-point finish to open the Chargers’ season. Game recap.
Thomas 95, Georgia Southern–East Georgia 91. Ninety-five points were just enough for the Nighthawks in a four-point game. Official result.
Warner 84, RV Indiana South Bend 78. A six-point road win for the Royals. Box score.
RV Southeastern 78, Florida College 71. The Fire overcame a 39–34 halftime deficit to give Cale Brubaker a winning start at SEU. Game recap.
Carroll 71, Stanton 64. The Saints opened 1–0 with a seven-point win, forcing 25 turnovers. Box score.
Central Baptist 79, Louisiana Christian 72. Cam Ned scored 27 points in his Louisiana Christian debut, but Central Baptist left with the seven-point win. Game recap.
ABAC 82, Beacon 74. Abraham Baldwin opened with an eight-point win. Official result.
Saint Mary (KS) 83, Central Methodist 73. Jordan Brown scored 27, Zach Hayslett added 23 and Joe Clark finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds. All 83 Spire points came from the five starters. Box score.
No. 3 Arizona Christian 78, RV Taylor 68. The Firestorm took the matchup between Jeff Rutter and his former assistant Austin Peters. Official result.

Keep the Friday game guide and our Scores & Schedules page bookmarked for the broader slate.

Friday’s top performers

Selected standout lines from Friday’s verified box scores and official recaps:

Gage Sefton, Grace: 29 points and five rebounds in the Lancers’ 99–83 win over IU Northwest. Sefton was nearly automatic: 11-for-12 from the floor, 4-for-5 from three and 3-for-3 at the line. Box score.
Ian Raasch and Grady Carpenter, Grace: Raasch finished with 23 points, seven rebounds and five assists on 7-for-8 shooting. Carpenter handed out 10 assists and added three steals. IU Northwest’s Amarion Johnson answered with 23 points, five rebounds and three blocks, hitting four of five threes. Box score.
Carter Gittens, OUAZ: 28 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block in an 84–65 win over Pacific Union. Gittens shot 10-for-19 overall and 5-for-8 from deep. Teammate Max Mkpa added 11 points and 13 rebounds. Box score.
Trent McNair and Junior Camacho, Southeastern: McNair had 22 points and nine rebounds on 9-for-12 shooting. Camacho supplied 20 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals in the Fire’s 78–71 win at Florida College. Game recap.
Keaton Lawson, Huntington: 19 points, 11 rebounds and five steals in the Foresters’ 99–68 win over Governors State. Teammate Miles Good scored 22, grabbed six rebounds and hit four of his six threes. Box score.
Brant Smithers, Cumberlands: 19 points and five threes in a 102–67 win over Simmons. His opening basket also took him to 1,000 career points. Game recap.
Tajahri Cave, Cumberlands: Six points, 10 assists and five steals. Abraham Ibezimakor supplied 12 points and 13 rebounds, including nine offensive boards; Javecckio Thomas scored 19 with four assists on 8-for-12 shooting. Box score.
Drew Jones and Nate Christy, Carroll: Jones scored 23 points with three assists and three steals, making all six free throws. Christy added 10 points, 10 rebounds and three steals in the Saints’ 71–64 win over Stanton. Box score.
Eli Sawyers, Southwestern: 16 points, 10 rebounds and four assists on 7-for-9 shooting in Coach OB’s milestone victory. Game recap.

More names for the notebook: Louisiana Christian’s Cam Ned scored 27 points on 12-for-17 shooting and grabbed five rebounds; teammate Rambo Eagins had eight points, six assists and five steals. Saint Mary’s Jordan Brown scored 27, while Joe Clark posted 15 points and 12 rebounds. Bellevue’s Jermaine Haliburton scored 22, and Za’Quien Whitehead blocked four shots. Louisiana Christian recap · Saint Mary box score · Bellevue box score.

Opening-week first wins in new seats

While Friday gave us a major career milestone, opening week also gave these coaches a winning start in their new roles:

Cale Brubaker, Southeastern: Friday’s 78–71 win at Florida College opened the Brubaker era at SEU. The Fire rallied from a five-point halftime deficit. Game recap.
Jake DuPree, LSUA: Thursday’s 85–84 victory over No. 14 Loyola (La.) was his first at LSUA. DuPree previously led Lourdes, so this was not his first college head-coaching win. Coach biography.
Trent Scheer, Baker: The Wildcats opened his head-coaching tenure with an 84–78 win over Haskell on Thursday. Baker’s coaching announcement · Results.
Ryan Sweeney, Columbia (SC): The Koalas beat Trinity College of Jacksonville (FL), 95–86, Thursday to open the first-year coach’s season. Game recap.

Around NAIA hoops: two stories to catch up on

One final season for Ray Shovlain. St. Ambrose’s longtime coach will retire after the 2026–27 season, his 44th leading the program. He enters the year with 749 career wins. Read our retirement story.
Caedmon Bontrager commits to Bethel. The Pilots announced the graduate transfer after his previously reported Coastal Carolina commitment. Bontrager averaged 20.7 points and 9.3 rebounds at Indiana Wesleyan last season. He may not be eligible until the second semester; an official eligibility date has not been confirmed. Read the full story.

Keep our Coaching Changes tracker handy for confirmed hires and departures, with current openings separated from filled jobs and future retirements.

Watch the full Road to Muni episode with Darius Miles

Darius Miles is on Road to Muni! Rust College’s new men’s basketball general manager joins us to talk about lessons learned, mental health, playing alongside LeBron James and the impact he wants to have on Rust College students. We also discuss his new book, What They Don’t Tell You, Before the League.

Watch the complete interview on YouTube, and subscribe for more Road to Muni conversations.

Saturday’s games to keep on your screen

All times Central. Here are four matchups to build your Saturday around:

RV Northwestern (Iowa) at Kansas Wesleyan, 1 p.m. A GPAC–KCAC matchup to start the afternoon. Watch on the KCAC Network.
Marian at No. 2 Freed-Hardeman, 2 p.m. A road test against the defending national champions for the Knights. Official schedule and coverage.
No. 25 Morningside at Mount Mercy, 3 p.m. An early measuring stick for both sides, with Mount Mercy getting another GPAC opponent after Friday’s tight finish against Briar Cliff. Watch on UEN.
RV Lewis-Clark State at No. 3 Arizona Christian, 8 p.m. A strong late-window matchup as the Fultz Classic continues. Watch on Overnght.

Find the rest of the lineup in our Saturday schedule and Links to Watch guide. Bookmark the Scores & Schedules page for results and keep the watch guide handy throughout the day.

Week 1 Recap by Categories: keep the nominations coming!

Several nominations are already in. Keep them coming through Sunday evening, October 25. Who deserves a little more attention from opening week?

We want the big performances, the gritty wins and the moments that do not always jump off a scoreboard. Last season’s Weekly Recap by Categories included Best Win, Upset, Best Game, Offense, MVP, Defensive MVP, Coach, Defense, Scottie Pippen, Onions, Sniper, Stock Riser, Rodman, Sophomore, Freshman and Dunk.

Email naiahoopsreport@gmail.com or DM @NAIAHoopsReport. Send the player or team, your category, the game and a box score or clip when available. Give us the case, not just the name!

Shoutout to Small College Basketball

A shoutout to Small College Basketball and the work it does to spotlight players across the small-college game, including through the Bevo Francis Award.

Interested in helping support the award through a sponsorship? See Small College Basketball’s post and reach out to John McCarthy at smallcollegebasketball@gmail.com, listed on the organization’s official staff page. Let’s help bring more attention and support to the players and programs that make this level special.