Four From Crossroads Alive In Final Fours
The Crossroads League is still alive and well in the NAIA Men’s and Women’s Division II Basketball National Championships. St. Francis and Indiana Wesleyan in the men’s draw and Goshen and Marian in the women’s draw all won quarterfinal matchups and have advanced to the Final Four in the respective tournaments.
The St. Francis men, the overall No. 1 seed in the tournament, rolled 80-53 over Keiser. Evan Henry drained six three-pointers and finished with 18 points to lead the Cougars (32-4) to the lopsided win, with Bryce Lienhoop and Kegan Comer each finishing with 16 points. Keiser (30-5) had Stanley Whittaker pace the team with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
The Cougars will meet IU East (22-13) in the semi-finals, after the Red Wolves upset Briar Cliff 83-81. East had Lucas Huffman drop 31 points while Clay Herreld had 28 points for Briar Cliff (32-4) in the loss.
Indiana Wesleyan moved to 31-5 with a convincing 89-64 win over York. Lane Mahurin scored 20 points to pace the Wildcats while Jonny Marlin and Jacob Johnson each finished with 13 points. Marcus Price had 22 points for York, which bows out after a 25-10 season.
IWU will get Davenport (32-4) in the other semi-final, a 77-60 winner over Warner. Dominez Burnett scored 21 for Davenport while Warren Hall finished with 19 for Warner, which ends at 26-7.
St. Francis and IU East will meet at 6 p.m. Monday in Point Lookout, Mo., with IWU-Davenport to follow.
Goshen continued its improbable run with an 89-71 win over Dakota Wesleyan. After knocking out top-seed St. Xavier Friday night, Goshen used 18 points and 11 boards from Jo’Mani Thomas and 17 points from Sophie Sears. Wesleyan (27-9) had Erica Herrold record 23 points and nine rebounds. Goshen (27-8) reaches the semi-finals for the first time in school history after the win Saturday.
Up next for Goshen is Southern Oregon, which moved to the semis with a 73-67 win over Tabor. Carly Meister had 16 points for Southern Oregon (32-1) while Tabor (28-8) had Tena Loewen pitch in 18 points and 12 boards. Southern Oregon and Goshen will meet Monday at 8 p.m. in Sioux City.
On the other half of the bracket, Marian (29-6) used 19 points from Lakan Hasser-Smith and 15 points from Kellie Kirkhoff to put away top seed Morningside 76-69. Jessica Tietz had 31 points and 14 boards for Morningside, which saw its season come to an end with a 33-3 mark.
Marian’s opponent Monday at 6 p.m. will be Mount Marty, which knocked off another top seed in Olivet Nazarene 98-76. Mount Marty (25-10) had Logan Wagner score 23 points to lead the team while Kellie Winchler had 20 points and seven rebounds. Olivet bows out at 25-6 after Jayne Stuart had 20 points.