Game Notes l Live Video ($) l Live Audio l Live Stats
KANSAS CITY – The fourth-ranked Carroll College Saints find themselves in the second-round of the Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Championship for the second-consecutive season.
Last year, the Saints faced the No. 2 overall seed in LSU-Alexandria and upset the Generals 66-60 to advance to the quarterfinals. This season, the Saints, the top seed in the Cramer bracket, are the favorite as they face No. 16 Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas), the fourth seed.
Carroll won its opening round game 82-69 over Mount Mercy (Iowa) to advance. Senior
Zach Taylor scored a game-high 21 points and nine assists to lead the Saints to the win.
SAGU advanced by overcoming a 31-29 halftime deficit to hold off Talladega (Ala.) 81-75. Keyunta Watkins, the NAIA leader in total three-pointers, scored a game-high 25 points and Lance Tipton added 22 for the Lions.
The two teams are comparable. The Saints put up 80.5 points per game while the Lions score 79.5. Defensively, both teams rank in the top-50 in total defense. The Saints give up a stingy 66.7 points, and SAGU gives up just 73.3 PPG.
The real difference in style between the two teams comes in the shooting. The Saints have put up just 1770 attempts this season while the SAGU has launched the ball up 2114 times.
Carroll depends on the best field goal percentage in the NAIA while SAGU will depend on volume. Both teams also rank in the 15 in total steals. SAGU is fourth in the NAIA in offensive rebounds.
"We're excited for the opportunity to lace em' up on Friday morning," head coach Carson Cunningham said. "What a great time of year to be playing hoops. SAGU is a strong team. They get a lot of steals and rebound well. We need to come ready to hoop."
Ryan Imhoff leads the Saints with a team-high 17.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. Taylor is second is second on the team with 16.9 PPG but leads the Saints with 3.8 assists per game.
Watkins leads SAGU with 19.1 points per game, 14th in the NAIA. Isaak Rowe is second with 12.6 points per game.
SAGU head coach Donnie Bostwick won a NAIA DII national championship with Oklahoma Wesleyan in 2009 and led the Lions to the national title game in 2013.
The game is scheduled for 9:45 a.m. Friday. The game will be streamed live on NAIANetwork.com. Jason Walker will also have the call on 94.9 FM ESPN Montana Radio and online at ESPNMontana.com. Live stats will be available via Dakstats.
