No. 14 Generals outlast No. 4 William Penn to reach NAIA Championship Game for first time

Kansas City, Mo. – The #14 LSUA men’s basketball team will play for its first NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship, using an 18-3 run late in the second half to pull away and hold on for the semifinal victory over the #4 William Penn Statesmen 84-75 Monday night at the Municipal Auditorium.

Things didn’t start in LSUA’s favor at the beginning of the contest as the Statesmen, the one seed and winner of the tournament’s Cramer Bracket, began the contest on fire from deep, hitting four three pointers to build up a nine point lead as Aakim Saintil hit a long ball to put William Penn up 14-5 just less than four minutes into the contest.

The General wouldn’t let them get away so quickly, getting a three from Chris Vickers to start a 10-0 run to take its first lead of the game as Shannon James, Jr. got to the rim and laid it in for a 15-14 LSUA lead.

But Saintil answered that with another three pointer to send William Penn out on a 13-1 run to take their largest lead of the contest on another three by Terrell Thompson to give the Statesmen a 27-16 lead with just less than 8:30 to go in the first half.

After several trading of buckets that moved William Penn’s lead to 32-22 with just less than five minutes left in the first half, things started to slowly turn in LSUA’s favor. James got to the paint again and laid it in to pull the Generals back within eight, and kicked off a 13-0 run to give LSUA the lead back as James threw up a little floater with just about two minutes left in the first half to put the Generals on top 35-32. The two teams would be tied at 37-37 at halftime.

Much like the second half of Saturday’s quarterfinal game, LSUA tried to take control of the game right out of the break, going on a 12-4 spurt to open the second 20 minutes as Anthony Stove tipped back in a miss to put the Generals up 49-41 with just over 16 minutes left in the contest.

But the Statesmen wouldn’t let the Generals get away as Saintil again dialed up long distance to start a 10-2 WPU spurt to tie the game back up on a JC Washington bucket with just less than 12 minutes remaining in the game. William Penn would reclaim the lead several minutes later as Terrell Thompson got ahead of the LSUA defense in transition for a lay-up to put the Statesmen up 56-55 with nine minutes left.

However, when Trent Brinkley scored on LSUA’s next possession, the Generals would not trail the rest of the contest, starting the decisive run. The Statesmen would tie the game one more time, two possessions later on another made three pointer, which was hit by Dominique Shaw with just less than eight minutes left to make it 59-59.

On LSUA’s next possession, Brinkley would give LSUA the lead for good as his floater went for a 61-59 advantage. With the Generals nursing a three point lead with five minutes left, the big push came as Brandon Moss’s put back of a missed shot started a 12-0 run that gave the Generals the breathing room needed to close things out. Brandon Moss would hit the biggest shot of the game as he was left wide open above the arc on the left baseline, and with no one coming out to contest him, he drained a three pointer to give LSUA a double digit lead for the first time at 74-62 with less than four minutes left. Jordin Williams would cap the run on LSUA’s next possession as he drained his own three pointer to give the Generals the largest lead of the contest at 77-62 with less than three minutes left. LSUA would hit enough free throws down the stretch to keep the Statesmen away and clinch the victory.

“We needed a special performance to get by a tough William Penn team,” said LSUA head coach Larry Cordaro. “This was the first game in the tournament where we felt we truly faced adversity and we overcame it by believing in each other and playing harder than ever. We knew we’d have to fight on the glass and we hung right there with them, and that was key in the win, not letting them get a lot of second chance opportunities, and converting when we had that opportunity. Tonight was a very tough game in a championship atmosphere, and we expect tomorrow night will be as well, but we need to finish off the job.”

Brandon Moss led a balanced LSUA attack with 21 points, one of five Generals players to score double digits in points. Moss also grabbed nine rebounds, dished out three assists, had two steals, and a block. Shannon James, Jr. came off the bench to contribute 16 points while also handing out a team high five assists along with four rebounds and a steal. Chris Vickers notched his fifth double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds, while also contributing two blocks, two steals, and two assists. Jordin Williams contributed 11 points, while Trent Brinkley capped the top scorers with ten points on a perfect four of four night from the field, along with two made free throws in two attempts.

The Generals held the #4 Statesmen (30-5) to 40.6% shooting from the field. While WPU was good on three pointers, 15 makes in 29 attempts, it was their free throw shooting that doomed them, going just four of 14 at the stripe. LSUA shot 47.8% from the field, including 36.8% from deep with seven makes, but also took a bit better advantage of the charity stripe, hitting 13 of their 24 attempts at the line.

#14 LSUA (29-7) will now play for the NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship, looking to become the first Louisiana school to win a men’s basketball national championship since Grambling State won the NAIA championship in 1961. The Generals will look to complete the run with the title on Tuesday night as they take on #19 Graceland. Tip-off between the Generals and Yellow Jackets is set for 7:00 P.M. in Municipal Auditorium, and can be seen live on the ESPN streaming service, ESPN3.com, or can be heard live in central Louisiana on ESPN Radio 1410 AM & 94.7 FM.