KANSAS CITY, Mo. – [Schedule | Bracket] The NAIA Men’s Basketball National Championship Final is set as No. 3 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) will meet No. 5 Shawnee State (Ohio) on Tuesday night in a battle for the red banner in Kansas City. Shawnee State battled back from a first-half deficit to make it in, while Lewis-Clark State took control from the outset and never looked back.

Quarterfinal Results | March 22, 2021

No. 5 Shawnee State (Ohio) def. No. 9 Saint Francis (Ind.), 82-77 | BOX SCORE

No. 3 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) def. No. 7 SAGU (Texas), 83-56 | BOX SCORE

News and Notes

Game 1 – No. 5 Shawnee State (Ohio) def. No. 9 Saint Francis (Ind.), 82-77 

Shawnee State – No. 5 (Cramer)

• Second ever appearance in NAIA National Tournament. Previous appearance was 2020. 
• The Bears advance to their first national championship game appearance in program history. 
• Shawnee State keeps its tournament record at a perfect 3-0 and moves to 30-2 on the season. 
• The 30 wins are the most for the Bears in program history, with the previous mark being 22 back in 2001-02. 
• SSU on an 11-0 scoring run from 16:14-13:56 in the first half. 
• 40 first half points are the most for the Bears in the tournament thus far. 
• Four Bears reached double figures, led by Donovan Carlisle with 19. James Jones added 17 points while Kobie Johnson dropped 14 and EJ Onu collected 10. 
• Jones dished out a game-high 11 assists, good enough for a double-double and his highest total this season. 
• EJ Onu nearly recorded a double-double with 10 points and nine blocks. Through three games in Kansas City, Onu has recorded 28 blocks, averaging 9.3 per game.
• As a team, the Bears were extremely efficient from the field, shooting 46.3-percent from the floor and 34.5-percent from long range.
• Seven different players knocked down at least one three-point basket. 
• Shawnee State led by as many as nine points. The game also featured five ties and 10 lead changes.

Saint Francis (Ind.) - No. 9 (Naismith)r

• Antwaan Cushingberry played all 40 minutes for the second-straight game.
• Cushingberry led all scorers with 22 points and finished the season with 20 or more points in 15 games, including all three games at the NAIA National final site in Kansas City, Mo.
• Jeffrey Reynolds came off the bench to record his second double-double of the season, with 13 points and 10 rebounds. 
• The Cougars grabbed 17 offensive rebounds, most in a single-game this season.
• SFU scored 20 second-chance points, the most second-chance points by any team so far at the NAIA National Championship in Kansas City.
• The Cougars erased a 30-21 deficit with 7:17 to play in the first half to tie the game at 40-40 going into halftime.
• Dan McKeeman entered the game No. 2 in the NAIA in total 3-pt shots made (100) and finished 4-of-9 on three-point attempts.

Game 2 - No. 3 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) def. No. 7 SAGU (Texas), 83-56 

Lewis-Clark State - No. 3 (Duer)

• Warriors advance to their first-ever National Championship game in program history. 
• Previous best was a semifinal appearance in 2019. 
• The 27-point win was the largest margin of victory in the tournament thus far. 
• Hodges Bailey led all scorers with a season-high 25 points including seven three-point baskets.
• Damek Mitchell added 16 points followed by Travis Yenor (14) and Trystan Bradley (13). 
• Mitchell also collected a game-high eight steals.
• Four out of the five Warrior starters reached double figures. 
• Lewis-Clark State just edged SAGU on the glass, grabbing 40 rebounds compared to 37 for the Lions. 
• The 16 three-point baskets from Lewis-Clark State are the most in this year’s tournament. 
• There were only two ties and two lead changes throughout the duration of the contest.
• Lewis-Clark State’s defense held the Lions to just 32.8-percent shooting from the floor. 
• The Warriors held SAGU without a basket for the final 6:06 of play. 

SAGU (Texas) - No. 7 (Liston)

• The 56 points scored is the lowest point total in a game this season for the Lions.
• Joshua Kashila finished with 10 points, and scored in double-digits in all 12 games played this season.
• Noah Boling led the team with 11 points.
• Domani Villaruel scored seven points to lead the team in bench scoring.
• The National semifinal appearance is the deepest run for a Sooner Athletic Conference team since Texas Wesleyan in the 2017 tournament (Texas Wesleyan won the NAIA DI Men’s Basketball National Championship)
• SAGU was eliminated by a Frontier Conference team for the second-straight appearance at the NAIA National Championship. They also lost to Montana Western at the 2018 National Championship Tournament, 105-96 in the first round.
• Edged Lewis-Clark in points in the paint, 24-22, and in points off the bench, 17-12.