NCAA DII MBB. To the Elite Eight!
There were 25 players from this area on 8 teams in the DII MBB field. After three rounds, There are four local players left, all playing on one team. Read on to see how all have fared.
Five teams lost after winning in the first round. One team won two before bowing out. And one team has won three games which puts them in the Elite Eight. Here is how our local talent has fared.
University of Missouri-St. Louis
The Tritons played Wisconsin-Parkside in the first round, coming away with a resounding 85 to 60 win. The next day, they defeated Ferris State 82 to 68 to reach the Sweet 16. Once at the Sweet 16, they defeated McKendree 62 to 60. Now on to the Elite Eight against the No. 1 ranked team in the country, Nova Southeastern. That game will be played on Tuesday at 6:00. You can follow or watch the game here.
The local connections are:
Matt Enright - Freshman - Webster Groves - Univ. of Missouri-St. Louis - Great Lakes Valley Conference
The all freshman team honoree scored 10 points in the three NCAA games while adding 8 assists to his season totals.
Mayson Quartlebaum - Junior - Lawrence - Univ. of Missouri-St. Louis - Great Lakes Valley Conference
The junior former Chesty Lion has pulled down 3 rebounds in this tournament.
Sam Bledsoe - Sophomore - Charleston - Univ. of Missouri-St. Louis - Great Lakes Valley Conference
Sam got into the first game against Wisconsin-Parkside
Caleb Thompson - Freshman - Westminster Christian Academy - Univ. of Missouri-St. Louis - Great Lakes Valley Conference
Sam has not seen game action this year.
Bentley University
The Falcons made their way to the Sweet 16 before bowing out of the tournament. They started with a first round win over Dominican-NY, 77 to 67. In the second round they defeated Southern-NH, 73 to 46 before falling to to New Haven, 69 to 60 in the Sweet 16.
The local connection is:
Matt Leritz - Graduate Student - St. Louis University High -Bentley Univ. - Northeast-10 Conference
Matt is a graduate student having transferred from Illinois Wesleyan. This is the third year that he is a CSC Academic All-American honoree. He scored 32 points and pulled down 16 rebounds in his 3 NCAA games.
University of West Georgia
The Wolves defeated Lee University in the first round, 74 to 61, before falling to the No. 1 ranked team in the country, 74 to 105.
The local connection is:
Kolten Griffin - Sophomore - Lafayette-St. Joseph - Univ. of West Georgia - Gulf South Conference
The sophomore from St. Joseph scored 19 points and pulled down 11 rebounds in the two tournament games.
University of North Georgia
The Nighthawks opened the tournament with a 76 to 58 win over North Carolina=Pembroke. They fell to Lincoln Memorial 74 to 84 in the second round.
The local connection is:
Eric Jones - Junior - Liberty-Mountain View - Univ. of North Georgia - Peach Belt Conference
Eric has not played in a game this year.
Angelo State University
The Rams defeated Colorado Mesa in the first round, 72 to 57, before falling in the second round to West Texas A & M, 59-69.
The local connection is:
Steve Webb - Graduate Student - Westminster Christian Academy - Angelo State Univ. - Lone Star Conference
Steve scored 14 points and came away with 5 rebounds in the tournament.
Northwest Missouri State University
The Bearcats opened the tournament by defeating Southern Arkansas, 94 to 69. The fell in the second round to Southern Nazarene, 57 to 61.
The local connections are:
Diego Bernard - Senior - Lafayette-St. Joseph - Northwest Missouri State Univ. - Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association
The conference player of the year led his team in the tournament with two game totals of 35 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists.
Bennett Stirtz - Freshman - Liberty - Northwest Missouri State Univ. - Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association
The conference freshman of the year had a good first NCAA tournament. He scored 25 points and made 8 assists in the two games. True to his conference leading field goal shooting, he made 11 of his 18 shots.
Luke Waters - Junior - Olathe Northwest - Northwest Missouri State Univ. - Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association
The Bearcats’ sixth man scored 23 points and made 3 assists in the two games of the tournament.
Daniel Abreu - Sophomore - Willard - Northwest Missouri State Univ. - Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association
Daniel scored 15 points per game in the tournament, exceeding his season average.
Byron Alexander - Sophomore - Staley - Northwest Missouri State Univ. - Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association
Byron scored 12 points in the tournament. Living up to his 62% shooting from the field, he was 5 for 7 in field goals.
Isaiah Jackson - Sophomore - William Chrisman - Northwest Missouri State Univ. - Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.
Isaiah had a very good tournament with 14 points, 14 rebounds, 9 assists, and 2 steals.
Blake Danitschek - Freshman RS - Kapaun Mt. Carmel - Northwest Missouri State - Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association
Blake did not have playing time in the tournament
Jackson Ratigan - Freshman - Blue Valley West - Northwest Missouri State Univ. - Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association
Jackson is a freshman who has not seen game action this year.
Trey Moala - Freshman - Paola - Northwest Missouri State Univ. - Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association
Trey is a freshman who has not seen game action this year.
Emporia State University
The Hornets opened the tournament with a first round win over Northern State, 72-51. They lost to Minnesota-Duluth in the second round, 84 to 79.
The local connections are:
Owen Long - Junior - Sikeston - Emporia State Univ. - Mid-America Intercollgiate Athletics Association
As he did all season, the first team all-conference honoree, led his team in scoring with 21.5 points per game in the tournament. Additionally, he pulled down 6.5 boards and made 3.0 assists per game.
Kaden Evans - Sophomore - Oak Park - Emporia State Univ. - Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association
The sophomore scored 10 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, and made 5 assists in the two tournament games.
Atavian Butler - Junior - McCluer North - Emporia State Univ. - Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association
Atavian scored 20 points in the tournament going 7 for 11 from the floor and 6 for 6 from the line.
Nahcs Wahwassuck - Freshman - Royal Valley - Emporia State Univ. - Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association
Nahcs score 4 points in the NCAA tournament, going 4 for 4 from the line.
Mason Thiessen - Junior - Inman - Emporia State Univ. - Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Mason pulled down 1 rebound in the tournament.
Jordan Brown - Freshman - Free State - Emporia State Univ. - Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association
The freshman has not seen game action this season.
Ethan Hildebrand - Sophomore - Stafford - Emporia State Univ. - Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association
Ethan has not seen action on the court this season.
Tuskegee University
The Golden Lions fell to West Alabama in the first round, 64 to 70
The local connection:
D’Anthony Pennington - Sophomore - North Kansas City - Tuskegee Univ. - Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
D’Anthony got 10 points and 4 steals in his one tournament game.
Four players are still playing on. Subscribe so you can see how they, and our DI basketball players fare.