Loyola and Talladega to meet again with NAIA championship on the line

NAIA Men’s Basketball National Championship Semifinal Round Recap
No. 1 Loyola (La.) will face No. 2 Talladega (Ala.) in the 84th Annual NAIA National Championship game on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – No. 1 Loyola (La.) will face No. 2 Talladega (Ala.) in the 84th annual NAIA Men’s Basketball National Championship game. This will mark the fourth time this season these two Southern States Athletic Conference foes have met. Loyola has won all three meetings so far this season. Talladega is in search of its first-ever NAIA Men’s Basketball National title, while the Wolf Pack won the National Championship back in 1945.

Semifinal Results | March 21, 2022
No. 1 Loyola (La.) def. No. 1 Arizona Christian 82-70
No. 2 Talladega (Ala.) def. No. 2 Thomas More (Ky.) 78-77 (OT)

Championship Matchup | March 22, 2022
No. 1 Loyola (La.) vs. No. 2 Talladega (Ala.) – 7 p.m.

News and Notes
Game 9 – Loyola (La.) vs. Arizona Christian
Loyola (La.) – No. 1 (Naismith)
-The Wolf Pack move to 36-1 on the season.
-They advance to their second NAIA Men’s Basketball National Championship game. Their only appearance they were crowned champs in 1945 with the 45-39 win over Pepperdine (Calif.)
-The win marks their 20th win in a row.
-The two-time SSAC Defensive Player of the Year, Myles Burns proves his offensive capabilities too, bumping up to No. 2 All-Time in Loyola (La.) history for points with 1,837 for his career after tonight’s 16-point performance.
-Burns has impressed this tournament averaging a double-double with 17.8 points a game and 10.8 rebounds per game.
-Zach Wrightsil led all scorers with 20 points. He shot 7-14 from the field and 6-11 from the free throw line.
-Loyola broke into the game on a 6-0 scoring run through first 2:52 of game.
-Three straight three pointers for the Wolf Pack, one by Jalen Galloway and two by Cameron Dumas, created a nine-point swing in the span of 36 seconds (7:55-7:14).
-Loyola led by as much as 23 points in the game.
-In the last 10 minutes of play in the opening half, the Wolf Pack outscored the Firestorm, 23-14 for the 11-point halftime lead 39-28.
-The Wolf Pack took advantage of 16 Firestorm turnovers for 23 points off of turnovers, while having the upper hand in steals with 10 compared to ACU’s four.
-Came into the matchup with 3rd in the nation in offensive rebounds per game with 15.5 and stayed true to that number with 14 offensive rebounds.
-They also improve to 13-6 overall at the NAIA Men’s Basketball National Tournament.

Arizona Christian – No. 1 (Cramer)
-The Firestorm close out 2022 with a 31-5 record.
-The loss ends a four-game winning streak.
-This marked Arizona Christian’s first-ever appearance in the Semifinals of the NAIA Men’s Basketball National Tournament.
-Scored four points to cut their deficit during a Wolf Pack scoring drought of 2:12, from 11:32 to 9:20 in the first half.
-No. 24 Bryce Davis had 10 points in the first half alone to lead his team in the half.
-Davis, a senior, was well above his season average of 9.9 points per game, finishing with 19 points, his second straight game of double-figure scoring and third game of the tournament with more than 10 points.
-Dennis Flowers III heated up in the second half with 14 points and had 15 for the game. He has double-figure scoring in four of the last five games.
-Entering the game they had a slightly higher shooting percentage from three-point range than the Wolf Pack at 36.7 to 34.1, but were held to only 5-27 from behind the arc at 18.5-percent.
-ACU was above their season average in turnovers per game of 12.7 against the swarming Wolf Pack in the contest. The Firestorm had 13 turnovers with 11:49 left in the game and had 16 when the night was over.
-The Firestorm now are 8-7 all-time in NAIA tournament play.

Game 11 –Thomas More (Ky.) vs. Talladega (Ala.)
Talladega (Ala.) – No. 2 (Duer)
-Talladega improves to 32-5 on the season.
-Appearing in their second NAIA semifinals.
-They are 7-3 all-time at the NAIA National Championship.
-The Tornadoes have been stout all year, holding teams to 38.3-percent from the field, third best in the NAIA. The Saints were held below their season average at 43.3-percent.
-The Tornadoes trailed 10-9 with 16:25 on the clock, but a 14-2 run over the next 5:51 firmly gave them the 23-12 lead.
-The Tornadoes outscored the Saints 39-27 in the first half.
-The leading scorer for Talladega was Cam Potts, who also, already holds the 2022 tournament-high for assists with 11, led all players with six assists.
-Additional help from the Tornado bench accounted for 17 first half points and 26 altogether, while Thomas More had nine.
-Between 7:43 and 4:49 in the second half, Talladega regained a 10-point advantage with an 11-2 scoring run.
-Edwin Louis had game defining moments in overtime with two makes from beyond the arc to give the Tornados their last six points and the eventual game-winning score. He exits the semifinal stage with 16 points on 6-7 from the field and 2-3 from three.

Thomas More (Ky.) – No. 2 (Liston)
-Thomas More closes out the year 31-5.
-A four-game win streak came to a head in the semifinals of the National Championship.
-They are now 6-4 all-time in the NAIA National Championship.
-Entered the game 5th in the nation in field-goal percentage at 50-percent, but were held slightly below their season average at 43.3-percent, while the Tornados shot 58.5-percent.
-No. 1 Ryan Batte, the Mid-South Conference Player of the Year, has been on a tear a the national tournament, averaging 20.2 points per game through four contests of the national tournament. He shattered that pace with a new tournament-leading 29-point performance.
-Five points began the comeback for the Saints in the first half cutting the Tornadoes lead to eight, the closest the game had been since 9:51 in the first half.
-At the 7:43 mark the Saints were able to come within one point of the Tornados, but were unable to create a lead change.
-The first overtime of the 2022 NAIA National tournament was brought about by a Saints 12-4 run in the last four minutes of regulation. The Saints outscored their challenger 41-29 in the second half.
-The Saints got to the line more than their opponent with 17-21 in free-throws, while the Tornados were 7-12.