MBB Opening Round Unkind to WHAC Teams
The 2022 NAIA Men's Basketball Opening Round, presented by Ballogy saw both Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) teams bow out of the tournament. Indiana Tech opened the first day with a 70-61 win against No. 7 Southwestern (Kan.) while No. 15 Lourdes dropped a heartbreaker on a buzzer-beater to No. 2 Olivet Nazarene (Ill.). The second day found Indiana Tech suffer a 70-47 loss to close out the season. Lourdes finishes the season with a 24-8 record. Indiana Tech finishes at 26-8.
No. 2 Olivet Nazarene (Il.) def. No. 15 Lourdes, 90-88 box score
Tyler Schmidt's baseline jumper as time expired lifted No. 11-ranked Olivet Nazarene to a 90-88 victory over Lourdes in the opening round of the 2022 NAIA National Championships held inside of McHie Arena in Bourbonnais, Ill. Lourdes rallied from a 10-point second half deficit, tying the game at 88 with nine seconds remaining in regulation. ONU pushed the ball to the front court and called timeout with six seconds left on the clock to set up the game-winning shot at the buzzer.
Stat Leaders
Points: Alex Gross 25 (ONU); McRay White 24 (LU)
Assists: Brett Lauf 8 (LU); Landon Pflederer, Tyler Schmidt 5 (ONU)
Rebounds: Alex Gross 10 (ONU); McRay White 7 (LU)
No. 10 Indiana Tech def. No. 7 Southwestern (Kan.), 70-61 box score
With just 46 seconds to play, Rog Stein was fouled on a layup to give the Warriors a four-point lead. Stein missed the free throw, but grabbed the offensive rebound and was immediately fouled again. He hit the first free throw to spark a 6-for-7 run from the charity line to ice the win.
Stat Leaders
Points: Cevin Clark 17 (SW); Rog Stein 15 (IT)
Assists: Zhahdi Robinson 5 (SW); Grant Smith 3 (IT)
Rebounds: Rog Stein 10 (IT); Andrew O'Brien, Zhahidi Robinson 5 (SW)
Indiana Wesleyan def. Indiana Tech, 70-47 box score
With Indiana Wesleyan leading by four at the half, Indiana Tech closed the gap to just two points when Cory McKinney hit a pair of free throws 30 seconds into the second period, but wouldn't score again for the next six minutes. The floor went completely cold for the next two minutes until IWU hit a layup and hit another shot at the 15:33 mark for a 42-36 lead. Rog Stein finally scored for Tech at the 14:11 mark, but the offense stalled again. With 10 minutes remaining, IWU opened up the lead and held IT to just seven more points.
Stat Leaders
Points: Seth Maxwell 19 (IWU); Rog Stein 14 (IT)
Assists: Spencer Pierson 6 (IWU); Grant Smith 3 (IT)
Rebounds: Seth Maxwell 13 (IWU); Rog Stein 7 (IT)