Two MCC schools secured bids to join the Fab Four of the NAIA men's and women's national basketball championships. Saint Francis is advancing to its first semifinal in school history on the men's side while the Indiana Wesleyan women are making their second trip.
The No. 15 Cougars battled No. 10 Cornerstone which began as a neck-and-neck battle before Cornerstone ended the half on a 21-12 run to take a nine point lead into intermission. However, USF responded, led by Austin Leisure's 13-point second half outburst, to take the 79-73 win. Saint Francis will take on defending champion Oklahoma Wesleyan on Monday at 9 p.m. EST for the right to play in the national title game. [
Complete Game Recap]
The Lady Wildcats have continually ridden a dominating defense throughout the postseason and it was no different on Saturday night as they took down College of the Ozarks 68-50. IWU has stifled each national tournament foe holding them to a combined 47.3 points per game. MCC Player of the Year, Elaine Hessel, paced the Wildcats with a game-high 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting. Indiana Wesleyan will take on Shawnee State (Ohio) on Monday at 7 p.m. EST. The last time IWU advanced to Monday in Sioux City, Iowa they won the 2007 National Championship. [
Complete Game Recap]
Indiana Wesleyan's male counterparts fell one game shy of setting up a MCC showdown in Monday's final four as they fell to defending champion Oklahoma Wesleyan 71-59. With the most prolific offense in the country, the Eagles opened up a 30-10 advantage and appeared to be prime to run away with the contest. However, the Wildcats strung together their own 22-10 run spanning the remainder of the first half and the beginning of the second half to eventually take a four point lead, 55-51. Unfortunately the momentum stalled as Oklahoma Wesleyan responded with a 20-4 run over the final seven minutes of the game. [
Complete Game Recap]
All semifinal contests will be broadcast live via online video feed and live stats from the
NAIA website. Tuesday's championship game will be televised nationally on CBS College Sports.