NAIA Round OF 32 Breakdown
Opening Round News and Notes
Leagues
- Teams Left: Crossroads (4), Cascade (3), Mid-South (3), GPAC (3), RSC (2), GSAC (2), KCAC (2), SAC (2), SUN (2), WHAC (2), AAC (1), AMC (1), CAC (1), Fontier (1), Heart (1), RRAC (1), SSAC (1)
- Crossroads League (4-1) had the most wins
- Cascade and Mid-South both had a 3-0 day
- AMC really had a good showing with a 1-1 day, but Central Baptist upsetting 3-seed, MidAmerica Nazarene, on the road and Columbia taking the 2-seed, Indiana Wesleyan, to 20T’s.
- WHAC and River States Conference both had 2-1 days
Other News and Notes
- (5) Games went into overtime, for a total of (7) OT periods.
- 13 games decided by 6pts or less.
- 9 double-digit seeds advanced.
- We had 3-host site teams go down.
- 10 of the 16 teams to make it to Kansas City, last year, are still alive.
- The Master’s vs St. Thomas is a rematch of the opening round game last year in which St. Thomas won.
- Evangel vs Baker is a battle between two old foes as Evangel left the Heart of America, for the KCAC, before this season.
- MACU vs OKWU is the battle of Oklahoma. The only game that features two teams from the same state faced up against one another.
Friday March 15th Schedule
ALL Times CT
1:30pm

Morningside
vs

Georgetown (KY)
3pm

Shawnee State
@

Madonna
4pm

Union @

Grace

UT Southern
@

Indiana Wesleyan

Freed-Hardeman
vs

Point Park
5pm

The Maser’s
@

St. Thomas (FL)

Florida College
@

Cumberlands
5:30pm

Evangel
vs

Baker
6pm

MACU
@

OKWU

Ave Maria
@

Langston

Oregon Tech
@

Northwestern (IA)

Bethel (IN)
vs

Central Baptist
6:30pm

Huntington
vs

Arizona Christian
7pm

Lewis-Clark State
vs

Montana Tech
8pm

Cornerstone
vs

College of Idaho
Quadrant Breakdown
NAISMITH QUADRANT
Players to Watch
Conference Award Winners

Elijah Malone – Crossroads League POY

Cobie Barnes – River States Conference POY

Vincent Miskiewicz – Sun Conference POY

Jaedon Bradley – Cascade Conference Newcomer of the Year

Jakob Gibbs – Crossroads League DPOY

Hayden Diekhans – Frontier Conference DPOY

Markello Sullivan – AAC DPOY

Calvin ‘Bobo’ Sirmans – Sun Conference Freshman of the Year

Alton Hamilton – Cascade Conference Freshman of the Year

Calleb Bellach- 2023 Frontier POY

Markelle Turner – 2021, 2022 and 2023 AAC Player of the Year

Alex Van Kalsbeek – 2x All-American
1st Team All-Conf/Others of Note:

Caleb Gibbs (Grace)

Jamison Guerra, Keegan Shivers and Kam Osborn (Oregon Tech)

Michael Ure and Asa Williams (Montana Tech)

Latavious Mitchell (Florida Memorial)

CJ Hall and Cortalnd Blake (SAGU)

Quentin Harvey and Noah Rigatuso (Baker)

Mohamed Bundu

Host: Grace (Ind.) | Winona Lake, Ind.
March 15-16
1. Grace (Ind.) | Crossroads Regular Season and Tournament Champions
8. Union (Ky.) | AAC Regular Season and Tournament Champions9. OUAZ (Ariz.) | At-Large
16. Washington Adventist (Md.) | CAC Tournament Runner-Up
Saturday, March 16th
4pm CT:

Union @

Grace

Host: Northwestern (Iowa) | Orange City, Iowa
March 15-16
4. Oregon Tech | Cascade Conference Tournament Champions
5. Northwestern (Iowa) | GPAC Regular Season Champions 12. Saint Mary-of-the-Woods (Ind.) | River States Conference Runner-Up
13. Keiser (Fla.) | AT-LARGE
Saturday, March 16th
6pm CT |

Oregon Tech
@

Northwestern (IA)

Host: Montana Tech | Butte, Mont.
March 15-16
3. Montana Tech | Frontier Conference Regular Season and Tournament Champions6. Hope International (Calif.) | AT-LARGE11. Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | AT-LARGE14. Wayland Baptist (Texas) | AT-LARGE
Saturday, March 16th
6:00pm CT |

Lewis-Clark State
vs

Montana Tech

Host: SAGU (Texas) | Waxahachie, Texas
March 15-16
2. Florida Memorial | AT-LARGE
7. SAGU (Texas) | AT-LARGE
10. Baker (Kan.) | AT-LARGE
15. Evangel (Mo.) | AT-LARGE
Saturday, March 16th
5:30pm CT |

Evangel
vs

Baker
CRAMER QUADRANT
Players to Watch
Conference Award Winners

Kaleb Lowery – GSAC POY

Kashee Natt – RRAC POY

Anthony Brown – Heart POY and DPOY

Reggie Thomas – GPAC POY

Najee Jones – RRAC Newcomer of the Year

DJ Talton Jr. – KCAC DPOY

Isaiah Howard – RRAC Freshman of the Year

Kyle Harding – AMC 6th Man of the Year

Eddie Smith – SAC 6th Man of the Year
1st Team All-Conf/Others of Note

Quan Lax and J.J Wheat

Jo Valrie (2023 RSC POY) and Jalen Stamps

Eden Holt

Josh Taylor, Cearius Warren and Milton Matthews

Bradley Bunch and Kyonte Thomas

Jadarrian Allen

Drew Lutz

Ed Wright and Caleb Jones-McCrary

Deshawn Corprew

Seth Hurd

Jaden Lietzke

David Wingett

Host: Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) | Henderson, Tenn.
March 15-16
1. Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) | Mid-South Regular Season and Tournament Champions
8. Point Park (Pa.) | RSC Regular Season and Tournament Champions9. Texas College | RRAC 2nd Highest ARC
16. Loyola (La.) | SSAC Tournament Champions
Saturday, March 16th
4:00pm CT |

Freed-Hardeman
vs

Point Park

Host: St. Thomas (Fla.) | Miami Gardens, Fla.
March 15-16
4. St. Thomas (Fla.) | AT- LARGE
5. The Master’s (Calif.) | AT-LARGE12. Webber International (Fla.) | AT-LARGE
13. Pikeville (Ky.) | AAC RUNNER-UP
Saturday, March 16th
5:00pm CT |

The Maser’s
@

St. Thomas (FL)

Host: MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) | Olathe, Kan.
March 15-16
3. MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) | Heart of America Regular Season Champion
6. LSU Alexandria (La.) | RRAC Regular Season and Tournament Champion
11. Bethel (Ind.) | AT-LARGE
14. Central Baptist (Ark.) | AMC Regular Season and Tournament Champion
Saturday, March 16th
6:00pm CT |

Bethel (IN)
vs

Central Baptist

Host: Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference & Friends University | Wichita, Kan.
March 15-16
2. Oklahoma Wesleyan | KCAC Regular Season and Tournament Champions7. Hastings (Neb.) | GPAC Regular Season and Tournament Champions10. Mid-America Christian (Okla.) | SAC Runner-Up15. Peru State (Neb.) | Heart Tournament Champions
Saturday, March 16th
6:00pm CT |

MACU
@

OKWU
DUER QUADRANT
Players to Watch
Conference Award Winners

Anthony Roy – Sooner Athletic Conference POY

Cevin Clark – KCAC POY and NAIA Leading Scorer

Michael Hayes – CalPac POY

Collin Parker – AMC POY

Dannie Smith – CCAC Newcomer of the Year

Xavier Cooper – CalPac Newcomer of the Year

Cortez Mosley – SAC DPOY

UGO EJIOFOR – NSAA DPOY

Mikah Blackwell -GSAC DPOY

Cameron Bontrager – Crossroads League Freshman of the Year
1st Team All-Conference/Others of Note

Toru Dean

Michael Klekas

Alex Littlejohn and Jun Murdock

CJ Carpernter

Noah Schutte and Tristan Smith

Arik Nichols

Zach Goodline (2023 CL POY) and Lane Sparks

Adarion Hudson

Javan Buchanan and Griffin Kliewer

Host: Langston (Okla.) | Langston, Okla.)
March 15-16
1. Langston (Okla.) | SAC Regular Season and Tournament Champions8. Southwestern (Kan.) | AT-LARGE9. Ave Maria (Fla.) | AT-LARGE16. Bellevue (Neb.) | NSAA Tournament Champions
Saturday, March 16th
6:00pm CT |

Ave Maria
@

Langston

Host: Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference & Kansas Wesleyan | Salina, Kan.
March 15-16
4. Concordia (Neb.) | AT-LARGE5. Kansas Wesleyan | KCAC Runner-Up12. LSU Shreveport (La.) | AT-LARGE13. Indiana Northwest | CCAC Tournament Champions
Saturday, March 16th

Host: Arizona Christian | Glendale, Ariz.
March 15-16
3. Arizona Christian | GSAC Regular Season and Tournament Champions6. Antelope Valley (Calif.) | CalPac Regular Season and Tournament Champions
11. Huntington (Ind.) | AT-LARGE14. Saint Katherine (Calif.) | CalPac Runner Up
Saturday, March 16th
6:30pm CT |

Huntington
vs

Arizona Christian

Host: Indiana Wesleyan | Marion, Ind.
March 15-16
2. Indiana Wesleyan | Crossroads League Runner-Up
7. Tennessee Southern | SSAC Regular Season Champions10. Tougaloo (Miss.) | GCAC Regular Season Champions
15. Columbia (Mo.) | At-Large
Saturday, March 16th
4:00pm CT |

UT Southern
@

Indiana Wesleyan
LISTON QUADRANT
Players to Watch
Conference Award Winners

Samaje Morgan – Cascade Conference POY

Andrew Cook – Frontier Conference POY

Jonathan Brown – Mid-South POY

Tyshon Judge – CAC POY

Tyler Schmidt – CCAC POY

Tajahri Cave – Mid-South DPOY

Jashavius Perdue – CAC DPOY

Straton Rodgers – Cascade Conference DPOY

Corey Ainsworth – WHAC DPOY

Shaunn Monroe – WHAC Newcomer of the Year
1st Team All-Conference/Others of Note

Johnny Radford, Jake O’Neil and Drew Wyman

Lucas Lorenzen

Maurice Commander

Rashad Bishop, Cam Brooks-Harris and Kyran Jones

Anthony Johnson and J.J. Ramey

Chaze Harris and Keith Germain

Ely Doble and Joey Skoff

Gus Etchison and Brody Whitaker

Isaac Anderson and Brendan Young

Luke Rowlinson

Jackie Harris and Joey Holifield

Host: College of Idaho | Caldwell, Idaho
March 15-16
WATCH LIVE$
1. College of Idaho | CCC Regular Season Champions
8. Cornerstone (Mich.) | WHAC Tournament Champions9. Carroll (Mont.) | AT-LARGE
16. Jessup (Calif.) | AT-LARGE
Saturday, March 16th
8:00pm CT |

Cornerstone
vs

College of Idaho

Host: Madonna (Mich.) | Livonia, Mich.
March 15-16
4. Roosevelt (Ill.) | CCAC Regular Season Champions5. Madonna (Mich.) | WHAC Regular Season Champions12. Dordt (Iowa) | AT-LARGE
13. Shawnee State (Ohio) | AT-LARGE
Saturday, March 16th
3:00pm CT |

Shawnee State
@

Madonna

Host: Morningside (Iowa) | Sioux City, Iowa
March 15-16
3. Morningside (Iowa) | AT-LARGE
6. Georgetown (Ky.) | AT-LARGE11. Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) | AT-LARGE
14. Lourdes (Ohio) | AT-LARGE
Saturday, March 16th
1:30pm CT |

Morningside
vs

Georgetown (KY)

Host: Cumberlands (Ky.) | Williamsburg, Ky.
March 15-16
2. Cumberlands (Ky.) | AT-LARGE
7. Florida College | CAC TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS 10. Marian (Ind.) | AT-LARGE
15. Philander Smith (Ark.) | GCAC Tournament Champions
Saturday, March 16th
6:00pm CT |

Florida College
@

Cumberlands