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West Valley: 2023-24 CCCAA Men's Basketball State Champions
WALNUT - In a game of runs in the 3C2A Men's Basketball Championship game, West Valley College came away with the biggest run of the day to pull off its first title in program history.
The 11-1 run to end the game gave the Vikings a 59-51 victory over College of the Sequoias on Sunday afternoon at Mt. San Antonio College to become just the fifth team in state history to finish the season undefeated with a 33-0 record.
The run was highlighted by two big defensive rebounds by All-Tournament West Valley Center Shakir Odunewu and a basket and two free throws by Tournament MVP Elijah Mahi.
"I remember coach told us it took us two years to win the state championship," Mahi said. "It was a lot of hard work, and I couldn't give enough thanks to coach Danny (Yoshikawa) and our assistant coaches.
Four of the five current Vikings starters were a part of the team that lost in last year's quarterfinal round.
The defense, of course, was a big part of the title for the Vikings with their height and Mahi accentuated that point of his teammates, saying, "We just stuck to our principles and locked in our defense and if we took our time, we could get whatever we wanted on offense."
The title game was the sixth for the Vikings, dating back to 1992. Three championship game appearances ('92, '95, 96) were under former coach and CCCMBCA Hall of Famer Bob Burton and Yoshikawa ('06, '22, '24).
"To be very honest with you, I don't think I'll know for another week," said Yoshikawa, of what the title meant to the school. "For me, it's long overdue. Our program has been an elite program for a long time. I think about all the players that came before this team and all of them who played under coach Burton."
Mahi ended up with a game-high 30 points for the Vikings while Odunewu added 13 and All-Tournament selection Jeremiah Dargan had nine. Mahi also had a big quarterfinal game with 26 points.
"I'm super excited and (darn), I mean 33-0, an unbelievable season, making history for my teammates, I'm just happy right now," Dargan said.
COS was led by sophomore guard Jose Cuello, an All-Tourney selection, with a team-high 27 points (10-22 FGM-A), along with Alex Argandar's 12 points.
Also named to the All-Tourney team from COS was sophomore forward Cameron Clark.
The Vikings' height contributed to a game-high 24 points in the paint and 19 points off turnovers.
In the early portion of the first half, West Valley came out on fire with a 13-5 advantage. The run was highlighted by three baskets by Mahi and a 3-pointer by Ragen.
"It feels great," said Ragen, of the perfection put up by the Vikings. "Genuinely, I think anything else I think I would have been more surprised, and we earned this (championship)."
COS answered with a spurt of its own with a 10-2 run to take its first lead, 17-15, on two free throws by Argandar with 5:33 left in the opening half. Nesbit started the run with a long 2-point basket and Jaylon Lee added two baskets.
The Giants led by a point at the intermission, 27-26.
Mahi led all scorers with 17 (6-9 FGM-A) first-half points for West Valley, while Cuello led the Giants with 15, which included three 3-pointers.
The Vikings started fast after the intermission with an 11-1 run highlighted by a dunk by Mahi to open the half.
Argandar broke the run for the Giants with two consecutive 3's in just over a minute and Cuello added another trey for a 11-0 run of their own to take a 39-37 lead with 10:38 left.
After the 14-1 run by the Giants, Dargan hit a 3-pointer to close within a point, 42-41, with 6:22 remaining.
ALL-3C2A STATE TOURNAMENT TEAM
MVP-Elijah Mahi, West Valley
Jeremiah Dargan, West Valley
Shakir Odunewu, West Valley
Jose Cuello, COS
Cameron Clark, COS
Devon Malcolm, Yuba
Jeremiah Davis, Fullerton
Norfolk State: 2024 College Insider Tournament Champions
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NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State men's basketball team ended its 2023-24 campaign with a net-cutting ceremony at Echols Hall – and not for a regular season championship.
The Spartans won the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament Presented by BSN Sports on Wednesday night in front of its home crowd, erasing an 18-point defect to defeat Purdue Fort Wayne, 75-67.
Christian Ings lifted Norfolk State (24-11, 11-3 MEAC) to victory with 17 points, scoring 13 in the second half en route to Most Valuable Player honors. Allen Betrand continued his spectacular tournament, tallying 16 points including a trio of 3-pointers.
Four Spartans scored in double-figures: Ings (17 points), Betrand (16), Jaylani Darden (11), and Jamarii Thomas (10). Norfolk State outscored Purdue Fort Wayne 44-26 in the second half, shooting 17-of-30 (56.7 percent) from the floor during that period.
The Mastodons (23-11, 11-9 Horizon) controlled the pace early, starting with a quick score on the game's opening possession. Back-to-back 3-pointers gave the visiting team an 8-2 advantage.
Purdue Fort Wayne pushed the lead to double digits with a pair of layups from Eric Mulder a few minutes later. Betrand got shots to fall on consecutive possessions to give the Spartans some life, but Quinton Morton-Robertson drilled a 3-pointer at the other end within a matter of moments.
A 3-point basket late in the first half brought the gap to 36-18 for the Mastodons, their largest lead of the night. Tyrel Bladen stopped the momentum with an and-one layup, before Kuluel Mading knocked down a 3-pointer.
Ings got a jump shot to fall at the buzzer, cutting the deficit to 41-31 heading into halftime. He started the second half right where he'd left off, immediately scoring in the paint before hitting a 3-pointer.
A floating jump shot gave Ings the Spartans' first seven points of the second half and last nine points total. Back-to-back scores from Darden and Thomas forced a PFW timeout, the Mastodon's advantage suddenly cut to just two points.
Purdue Fort Wayne made a 3-pointer after the break, but inside baskets from Darden and Bladen pulled the Spartans within one. After a media timeout, Betrand converted behind the arc to push Norfolk State ahead 51-49, the Spartans' first lead of the afternoon.
Ings drained another 3-pointer to break another tie, scoring on the fast break a minute later. The graduate guard came up with a steal on the Mastodon's next possession before calling timeout, hyping up the Spartan bench.
Betrand hit a pair of jumpers in a short span, and Chris Fields Jr. rose for a one-handed slam in between scores. Thomas gave the Spartans a double-digit advantage with a driving layup after the final media timeout, as Norfolk State gained complete control of the ballgame.
Darden provided the championship dagger, draining a 3-pointer in the final minute to give NSU a nine-point lead.
Checking The Box Score
Christian Ings led the Spartans with 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor, scoring 13 in the second half
Allen Betrand recorded 16 points, knocking down three 3-pointers
Four Spartans scored in double figures: Ings (17 points), Betrand (16), Jaylani Darden (11), and Jamarii Thomas (10)
Anthony Roberts led the Mastodons with 18 points and eight rebounds
Norfolk State outscored Purdue Fort Wayne 44-26 in the second half
News & Notes
Norfolk State concluded the 2023-24 season with a 24-11 overall record, 11-3 in the MEAC
NSU won the 2024 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) with the victory, the program's first national postseason tournament championship in its Division-I era
Norfolk State overcame an 18-point first half deficit
Christian Ings was named the game's Most Valuable Player
The Spartans ended their season on a victory for just the third time in the program's Division I history
Wednesday marked the first-ever meeting between Norfolk State and Purdue Fort Wayne
Allen Betrand concluded his collegiate career with a strong 16-point performance, after leading the Spartans with 16 points against Alabama A&M in the previous round
In the second halves of Norfolk State's two games in the CIT, the Spartans outscored their opponents by a total of 97-61
Seattle: 2024 College Basketball Invitational Champions
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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Seattle University men's basketball completed the rare feat of finishing the season with a championship win, capturing the 2024 Ro College Basketball Invitational title with a 77-67 victory over top-seed High Point Wednesday night in Daytona Beach.
The Redhawks won four straight games over five days to capture the tournament title and conclude the season with a a 23-14 overall record.
Seattle U's senior trio of Cameron Tyson, Alex Schumacher and Seyi Reiley led the way all tournament long. The title game was no different. Tyson earned tournament MVP honors, capping his collegiate career with a 30-point effort, including seven three pointers. Schumacher was named to the all-tournament team following a 22-point, five rebound, four assist performance. Reiley closed out his career with 10 points and a career-high 16 rebounds.
A masterful defensive performance to start the game, the Redhawks held the high-scoring Panthers to just three points over the first 10 minutes of play.
High Point (27-9) would eventually get going, cutting into the Redhawks' 17-point lead and pull within six, 28-22. Seattle U would take a 30-22 lead into the break.
The second half would go back and forth until the final minutes. With High Point holding a 67-66 advantage with 1:56 to play, the Redhawks turned on the afterburners. Brandton Chatfield buried a straightaway three, Reiley drained a pair of free throws after a High Point flagrant foul, then slammed home an alley-pop dunk on the next play.
The seven-point possession put the Redhawks in the drivers' seat, 73-67. Schumacher and Tyson each sank a pair of free throws to close out an 11-0 run to secure the title.
Barton: 2023-24 NJCAA Division I Men's Basketball National Champions
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (KWCH) - The Barton Cougars were the team to beat in junior college basketball for nearly the entire 2023-24 season. The Cougars brought a 35-1 record into Saturday’s NJCAA Division I National Championship game with a trophy to bring back to Great Bend on their mind.
Their opponent, Triton College held an early first half lead before a three-point attack gave Barton a 23-21 advantage. Barton went on to the locker rooms with a 46-39 lead at halftime.
Down the stretch Triton again made Cougar fans sweat, closing the deficit down to single digits in the final minutes, but it was Barton that prevailed 88-73. After falling in their lone national championship appearance 25 years ago, Saturday marked Barton’s first national championship in program history.
“It’s special. We wanted to be the first team to bring home the trophy,” said Barton guard Ring Malith. “I’m happy we did it, we had a great season.”
“You saw it here today, there was a lot of people here,” said third year head coach Jeremy Coombs. “We started to see that in our home games a lot this year. The place was packed, it was a great environment for the guys to play in. We’re happy to bring it back to Great Bend but we’re really excited for our team just because they worked so hard for it.”
The one-seeded Cougars dominated their way through the national tournament in Hutchinson Sports Arena, defeating their tournament opponents by a combined 59 points in four matchups as they were determined for the outcome they saw Saturday.
“Since the preseason it was our goal,” Tournament MVP Lajae Jones said. “Win the conference, region, and the national championship.”
Freed-Hardman: 2023-24 NAIA Men's Basketball National Champions
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The 86th annual NAIA Men’s Basketball National Championship concluded on Tuesday night with a hotly anticipated game between a pair of No. 1-seeds in Langston (Okla.) and Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.). Freed-Hardeman picked up the massive win 71-67 over Langston to take home the program’s first-ever Red Banner.
Championship night was rocking from the start inside historic Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City. Through the first seven minutes of play, both FHU and LU traded buckets from the tip as the fan bases of both institutions were loud and proud.
Just five-minutes into the game, Freed-Hardeman had a big block on a three attempt by Toru Dean, but the Miami native snagged the blocked ball out of the air and sank a second three-attempt with tenths of a second left on the shot clock.
As the contest entered the second media stoppage of the first half, Langston was 3-for-3 from the floor and pushed its lead to 20-16. The FHU Lions, however, did not go away and clawed their way back to trail by just two points in the following 12 minutes.
As both teams began to settle into the championship match-up, the pace of play began to settle down as well. With just over four minutes remaining in the opening frame, both teams were nearly equal across the board. LU held the narrow lead in field goal percentage, 46.4% to 45.8%, and three-point shooting percentage, 40% to 33.3%. It was the Langston defense down the stretch of the first half, however, that stole the show. The stingy Langston squad held Freed-Hardeman to long possessions and forced shots.
Langston closed the first 20 minutes on an 8-0 run and held a nine-point, 40-31 lead into the break.
Though both teams shot similarly from the floor in the first half, the Langston marksmen were lethal from three-point land, going 7-for-17 from beyond the arc.
Langston started the final period right where they left off. The team from Oklahoma quickly spread the floor and went end to end on a dunk and continued to pressure the squad from Tennessee.
Through 25 minutes of championship basketball, FHU and LU were tied three different times, and the game saw eight lead changes. Freed-Hardeman slowly began to close the margin, going on a 6-0 run while holding LU scoreless for over three and a half minutes, cutting the deficit to seven.
Langston’s scoring drought ended as Cortez Mosley hit a tough jumper on the inbound pass, pushing its lead back to nine. FHU had a contested look from deep with just under 12 minutes to play, which would have cut its margin to two points, but were unable to connect as it continued to trail 48-43.
Freed-Hardeman stayed persistent on both ends of the floor, putting together a 14-5 run that lasted nearly ten minutes of play, to trail by three. FHU quickly turned their deficit of three points, into a tied game at 50-all with just under eight minutes to play as JJ Wheat hit the shot putting the FHU fans on their feet as the game headed into the under-ten media break.
Freed-Hardeman continued to battle on the defensive end of the floor with the game tied at 59, despite not having a made field goal in the last 3:39 of play as the game clock clicked under five. Entering the final 3:53 of play, LU was shooting 42.9% from the floor, 36.8% beyond the arc, and was 10-of-16 at the foul line. FHU was shooting 47.6% from the field, 21.4% from deep, and converted on 16-of-22 free throws.
Langston’s defense continued to pay dividends down the stretch, earning big stops, allowing them to collect much-needed baskets on the offensive end to break the tie, and lead by four with 2:15 left to play. LU continued to be strong on both ends of the court as it strung together a 7-0 run in that same time frame to lead by six, 66-60.
As the contest dipped under a minute to play, FHU quickly closed the margin back to a one-point game, 67-66. On the Langston in-bounds pass, Peyton Law intercepted it giving FHU a chance to take the lead. After a foul in the lane, which sent JJ Wheat to the line for a chance to tie the game or take the lead; he converted on both shots to put his team up by one with little time left.
Wheat grabbed the game-winning block for FHU with five seconds left on the clock then proceeded to make the layup on the other end giving FHU their first NAIA National Championship win in program history by a score of 71-67.
Overall, in the 2024 NAIA Men’s Basketball championship game, Freed-Hardeman shot 47% from the floor, 20% from deep, and 73% at the charity stripe. Langston posted shooting percentages of 42% from the floor, 36% from beyond the arc, and 62% at the free-throw line. LU outrebounded FHU 39-27 while notching 12, second-chance points, 17 points off the bench, and 26 points in the paint. FHU scored nine, second-chance points, 26 points off the bench, and 38 points in the paint. In the 40 minutes of play, the teams saw a total of 13 lead changes and eight ties.
Following the game, the All-Tournament Team was announced:
All-Tournament Team
Javan Buchanan – Indiana Wesleyan
Samaje Morgan – College of Idaho
Jake O’Neil - College of Idaho
Jakob Gibbs – Grace (Ind.)
Elijah Malone – Grace (Ind.)
Anthony Roy – Langston (Okla.)
Cortez Mosley – Langston (Okla.)
JJ Wheat – Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.)
Hunter Scurlock – Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.)
Quan Lax – Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.)
Charles Stevenson Hustle Award
JJ Wheat – Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.)
Chuck Taylor Most Valuable Player
Hunter Scurlock – Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.)
Charles A. Krigel Sportsmanship Award
Grace (Ind.)
Minnesota State: 2023-24 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball National Champions
EVANSVILLE, Ind. --- The NCAA DII National Championship game came down to the closing seconds Saturday afternoon but a three pointer in the corner by Kyreese Willingham with 0.8 seconds left proved to be the difference as Minnesota State won its first NCAA DII Championship over Nova Southeastern by the score of 88-85.
With the win, MSU finishes its season with a 35-2 record. With the loss, NSU finishes its season with a 32-3 record.
The opening minutes of the game saw the Sharks take advantage of a few MSU turnovers as they built a 12-2. After taking a timeout, the Mavericks got back on track with a pair of baskets from Dylan Peeters and Elijah Hazekamp to get back within five of NSU at 12-7 with 15:06 to go in the half. By the midpoint of the first half NSU was able to extend its lead to 21-12 with 10:32 to go, with MSU's two scores coming courtesy of Justin Eagins and Malcolm Jones.
The Mavericks then responded with a 16-6 run over the next four minutes to take a 28-27 lead. Four Mavericks scored during that stretch, including Harrison Braudis and Kyreese Willingham who each tallied five points. The lead would exchange three more times up to the 4:00 media timeout as NSU led the Mavericks 34-33.
The final four minutes of the half saw two more lead changes as the Sharks carried a 40-38 lead into halftime.
All eight Mavericks who saw the court in the opening stanza reached the scoring column. MSU was paced by Peeters who notched eight points, behind a 4-of-5 effort from the field. Both Braudis and Kyreese Willingham notched seven points each. Hazekamp led the Mavericks in rebounds in the first half with five.
As a unit, MSU shot 45.2% from the field in the first half. The Mavericks also passed out eight assists.
Ryker Cisarik led all scorers in the first half with nine points, while Shane Hunter tallied eight points.
As a team, NSU shot 37.5% from the field. The Sharks also forced nine Maverick turnovers.
The second half saw the Mavericks come out firing on all cylinders as they started the half on a 10-0 run to take a 48-40 lead with 18:41 to go. Eagins notched five of MSU's 10 points during the opening stretch of the second half. With 11:20 remaining in the game the Mavericks led by 10 at 68-58 as Braudis, Eagins, Hazekamp and Malik Willingham each connected from downtown.
Trailing 71-58 with 11:19 to go, the Sharks then put together a 13-0 run to tie the game at 71-71 with 6:55 to go in the game. The lead would change hands a few more times as the game remained tied at 85-85 with 1:15 to go.
The Mavericks had the first chance at taking the lead in the final minute but their shot just missed and was rebounded by NSU. Then with 27 seconds to go in the game, Malik Willingham got the steal underneath the basket and called a timeout.
As he had during the NCAA Central Region Championship, Malik Willingham had the ball in the closing seconds before finding the open man, this time his brother Kyreese Willingham, in the corner who drained the three pointer with 0.8 seconds left on the clock to put MSU up 88-85. An FSU turnover on the inbounds pass sealed the deal for the Mavericks.
Peeters finished with a team-leading 19 points, to go along with four assists, as he shot 9-of-10 from the field. Eagins added 17 points and six rebounds, while Malik Willingham, Kyreese Willingham and Braudis each tallied 12 points. Malik also tallied five assists and five steals, while Kyreese hauled in five rebounds. Braudis also passed out three assists as he finished 4-of-5 from the field.
As a unit, MSU shot 52.4% from the field, including a 14-of-32 (.438) showing from downtown. The Mavericks also passed out 18 assists and recorded 10 steals.
MJ Iraldi led the Sharks with 25 points and seven rebounds, while Hunter notched a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Isaiah Fuller recorded 12 points of his own.
As a team, NSU shot 44.6% from the field, including a 5-of-9 performance from three point range. The Sharks also hauled in 42 rebounds.
Malik Willingham was named Elite Eight Most Outstanding Player. Kyreese Willigham also qualified for the All-Tournament Team.
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