By: @jonnystrube0
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Men's Basketball has made the NAIA National Tournament for the first time since the 2018-19 season and their first since the DI and DII merger. The 2024 NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship First & Second Round's, presented by Ballogy, will take place on March 15 over in Caldwell, Idaho. The host being the reigning National Champions, College of Idaho. Cornerstone is the eight seed in their pod and will take on the nine seed Carroll Fighting Saints in the First Round starting at 7 p.m. EST on Friday, March 15.
Opponent: Carroll
Location: Caldwell, Idaho (J.A. Albertson Activities Center)
Date: Friday, March 15
Time: 7:00 p.m. EST
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Last Week Recap
The Golden Eagles took on the Crusaders of Madonna in the WHAC Tournament Championship and came away with their first Tournament Championship since 2016-17 with an 88-73 victory. It was a team effort led by Mason Brook's career high 29 points off the bench.
Cory Ainsworth recorded a double-double of 24 points and 10 rebounds while
Blake Stewart had himself a career night of 18 off the bench as well. Cornerstone is red hot, riding a 14-game win streak into NAIA National Tournament, with an overall record of 24-7.
NAIA First and Second Round
The 2024 NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship First & Second Round's, presented by Ballogy, starts on March 15 with all first-round games being played. The second-round games will be played on March 16 between the two winners of round one with a chance to make it to the final site, in Kansas City, Missouri. The Final Site games begin on March 21
st. The host site for the first two rounds for Cornerstone are the reigning National Champions, The College of Idaho.
Host Site – College of Idaho
Fresh off a National Championship in which they beat WHAC rival Indiana Tech, The College of Idaho has another first round bid to host the National Tournament First and Second Rounds. They are the one seed in the Liston Quadrant as they have an overall record of 28-3. The Yotes rank 11
th in the nation in scoring at 87.7 points per-game while shooting 48.5% from the field. Their defense is one of the best in the country, holding opponents to 64.4 points a game on 39.8% shooting. The Yotes offense has a balanced scoring attack with four players averaging double-figures but being led by Player of the Year in their conference, sophomore guard Samaje Morgan who is around 14 points per-game. They also have the Defensive Player of the Year in Straton Rogers.
Looking at Carroll
Carroll comes into the matchup against the Golden Eagles with an overall record of 19-11 coming off a loss in their conference tournament championship. The Fighting Saints are averaging 80.4 points per-game on 48.3% shooting while allowing opponents to score 78.5 on 45.5% shooting. Carroll is led by the Player of the Year in their conference in Andrew Cook who is averaging 20.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per-game while shooting 55% from the field. The Fighting Saints have two others in double-digits in Kendall Moore (14.6) and James Lang (12) as well.
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