Tiger men win CAC title

LAWRENCE, Ks. — The Iowa Wesleyan men’s basketball team certainly had to battle this weekend, but in the end, the Tigers had what it took.

The 23rd-ranked Tigers cut down the nets at Haskell Indian Nations University on Sunday after beating No. 14 Florida College 70-66, not only earning revenge for one of their only two losses this season, but stamping their resume ahead of the national tournament.

The Tigers had to win three close games to take home the CAC crown in their final year in the conference. Iowa Wesleyan sneaked by Haskell 67-65 on a buzzer beater in the quarterfinals and held off Washington Adventist University 53-49 in the semifinals to get to Sunday’s game.

On Sunday, the Tigers took an early lead as Carver Locke sank a 3-pointer in the first minute, and the two teams would go back-and-forth for the rest of the first half.

The Tigers did build an eight-point lead when Joey Brown IV sank a 3-pointer with three minutes to go in the half. Florida College scrapped back to take a one-point lead, but Gacoby Jones gave the Tigers the lead with a layup in the final 15 seconds and then sank two free throws before the final buzzer, and the Tigers led 39-36 at the break.

The Tigers went back up by seven early in the second half when Brown and Henry Shannon connected on back-to-back buckets. The Tigers led by as much as 11 points on another 3-pointer by Brown with 11:46 remaining.

Again, Florida College battled back. The Falcons had the game down to two points with the ball in the final five minutes, but Hakeem Odunsi nailed a dagger 3-pointer with 3:03 left to put Iowa Wesleyan back up by five.

Leading by three points with less than two minutes left, it was Brown again that put the nail in the coffin, sinking another 3-pointer off an assist by Jones. Florida College had the ball down four in the final seconds but could never cut it back down to one possession.

Brown finished the championship game with 19 points, including five made 3-pointers. Odunsi had 17 points off the bench, and Shannon finished the night with 10 points, eight rebounds and there blocked shots.

The Tigers officially qualified for the NAIA national tournament with a semifinal win over Washington Adventist on Saturday. The Tigers led the Shock 27-25 at halftime, and once again had to hang on down the stretch.

On Saturday, Shannon and Jones each had 17 points to colead the team. Francis Okwuosah scored 10 points, and Odunsi had seven.

The most exciting finish of the weekend came in the quarters, where Iowa Wesleyan would beat Haskell Indian Nations on a last-second layup by Shannon.

Haskell had come back to tie the game when Tate Bear split a pair of free throws with 39 seconds left, and the Indians took the ball back with time left to win it, but Jones forced a key tie up to give the Tigers the ball back on a jump ball with just two seconds remaining.

On the ensuing in bound from half court, Shannon tipped the ball away from defender and laid the ball in at the buzzer to knock out the home team and send the Tigers to the semifinals.

Jones finished the quarterfinal game with 19 points. Shannon had 11 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots, and Victor Munoz scored 10 points.

Jones was named Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament. Odunsi, Brown and Shannon were all named to the All-Tournament Team.

The weekend saw the Tigers earn their first national tournament birth since 2011 in just the first year in the reign of head coach Jordan Ashton. The Tigers are now 27-2 heading into the national tournament.

Iowa Wesleyan will learn its draw in the NAIA tournament on Thursday when the national bracket is released.