KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Lewis-Clark State College Warriors are still dancing. It took a period of overtime, but third-seeded LC State is on to the semifinal of the 2021 NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship after a heart-stopping 75-70 victory over 11
th-seeded Loyola University (La.). This is the second time in program history, and second time in a row, that the Warriors are one of the four remaining teams in the tournament.
"Tonight was a big-time national tournament game," Head Coach Austin Johnson said. "Loyola was relentless in transition and off the bounce, and they're a great team. Our guys are so resilient and connected, and I am so happy to see the success they're earned. Tons of credit to my assistant coaches for making some key adjustments offensively that allowed us to get the ball moving a bit better than it was in the middle of the game."
The two teams sat tied 66-66 through 40 minutes after a last-ditch 3 by the Wolf Pack. Trystan Bradley provided the Warriors with momentum in overtime with the first five LC State points.
Trystan Bradley put the Warriors on the board in the first 20 seconds with an assist from Hodges Bailey, and Travis Yenor made it 4-0 at 17:46. A goal-tending call fell in favor of LC State to give Mitchell and the Warriors their third straight basket as the defense held Loyola scoreless until 16:48. Khalil Stevenson added to the opening run for an 8-2 LC State lead.
The Wolf Pack cut the lead to two before back-to-back 3-pointers from Stevenson and Nathan Fromm and an and-one play by Bailey pushed the advantage out to 17-6 at 12:25. Loyola went on a nine-point run to pull within two but a three-point play by Bradley and deep 3 by Bailey kept the Warriors in front by a slim margin.
Loyola did not back down and continued to chip away at the LC State lead and cut the score to 25-23, but the Warriors responded promptly with a triple from Mitchell at 3:20. Fromm added on to a one-point made with a layup as LC State held a slim 33-30 lead at the half.
Mitchell answered an opening basket by Loyola with a triple to make it a 36-32 lead to begin the second half. LC turnovers continued to benefit the Wolf Pack as Loyola took a 37-36 lead at 16:28.
The deficit grew to 41-36 before a 3 by Bailey cut it back to a two-point game. A triple by Bradley kept the momentum going to bring the Warriors within one at 43-42 with 13:02 to play. Albright evened the game with an assist from Stevenson and Fromm put LC back in front, 46-44, at 11:16.
The Wolf Pack answered right back to regain the lead at 48-46, but a shot by Bradley from downtown kept the back-and-forth going. A free throw by Bailey and a clutch 3 by Mitchell put the Warriors in front 60-56 with under three to play.
Stevenson fought his way to the basket for a layup to make it a four-point game with 37 seconds to play, but Loyola cut the lead back to two after running 10 seconds off. A 3 by the Wolf Pack tied the score 66-66 with 10 seconds on the clock. A block by Stevenson at the buzzer sent the game to overtime.
Bradley drew a foul and made good on both shots to open the five-minute extra period. Loyola answered at 3:27 before taking the lead a minute later. Bradley struck for 3 at 2:09 to give the Warriors a 71-70 edge. Big stops by the LC State defense and a 3 by Bradley put the Warriors ahead for good.
Stevenson added a basket to make it 73-70 and Albright drained two free throws to finish the game off at 75-70.
Bradley led LC State with 18 points and blocked three shots to reach 100 in his career. He drained three triples and grabbed four boards. Mitchell also netted three 3-pointers in his 13-point performance, and Bailey notched a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds to go with his team-leading five assists. Stevenson added 11 points and six boards, Fromm scored 10 points, and Albright had nine points, seven rebounds and five assists.
"Our seniors battled all night, even though we were exhausted, and we once again got a big lift from Nate Fromm," Johnson said. "To hold that team to under 40 percent from the floor says so much about the heart and character of our players. We're grateful to be moving on."
LC State shot 40.3 percent from the floor and hit 10 3-pointers. The Warriors held the Wolf Pack to 38.4 percent from the field and 17.6 percent (3-for-17) from 3-point range. The Warriors dealt 17 assists compared to Loyola's five. The LC bench outscored that of Loyola 19-9.
The Warriors will face the winner of 15
th-seeded Carroll and seventh-seeded SAGU on Monday at 6 p.m. PT. The game will be streamed on the NAIA Network and will be shown at Zany's. KOZE will carry the game as well, with Brian Danner on the call. Links to live coverage will be available at lcwarriors.com.
Stay up to date with all things Warrior Athletics at lcwarriors.com and on social media @LCWarriors.