#8 Alice Lloyd Eagles use three-point barrage to knock-out #3 Mission University 95-86 in NCCAA Men’s National Championship

Eagles finish season on high note, finish 2-1 in Nationals. Earn 5^th Place

Lake Winona, IN: On March 22^nd, the #8 seeded Alice Lloyd Eagles concluded their seasons journey in Lake Winona, Indiana in the NCCAA Men's DI National Championship. In this contest, the opponent would be the Mission University Patriots from Springfield, Missouri. For the second consecutive game, the Eagles combined impressive marksmanship with total teamwork to take the huge 95-86 victory.

The Bluegrass boys, who were coming off a close loss to top-seeded Cedarville Ohio, won a scintillating victory over an ultra-athletic Roberts Wesleyan squad to advance to the 5^th place game. There, they faced one of the country's best offensive units in the #3 Patriots.

In the opening stanza, sparked by the inside scoring of freshman forward Jackson Tackett and the outside shooting of senior guard Brady Nelson, the Eagles would grab an early lead. They would remain in control and extend it out to double digits. When freshman guard Koji Anderson swished a trifecta at 7:45, the score stood 39-21, ALC.

The Eagle would maintain their cushion for the remainder of the half and settle for a 49-36 advantage after twenty minutes of action.

In the second half, the Caney Creek crew would come out on a nice 13-5 run to keep things rolling. Following a steal and charity toss from Nelson at 16:30, the advantage had reached twenty-one points, 62-41.

There is an old-saying that nothing worthwhile is obtained easily, and this would be no exception as Mission would show their mettle and begin to fight back. The athletic Patriots turned to the duo of guard Nick Coble and forward Jacques Thomas to lead a resurgence.

 Over a span of just 3:28, the pair would combine for twelve consecutive points and propel their club on a 15-1 run. Suddenly, the deficit was just seven (63-56), with 13:02 remaining.

In desperate need of a bucket, the Kentucky boys turned to Anderson, who drained two tough jumpers to help his buddies push their lead back above double digits, 68-57. However, the Missouri club refused to go away.

Once again, they would claw their way back into contention. When forward Julian Johnson made a steal and powerful dunk at 6:35, they were within four (75-71) and seemed poised for the big comeback. Although the Eagles may have bent, they refused to break.

On the next possession, freshman guard Landon Napier swished a huge trifecta to make the score 78-71. Later, after ALC's Jackson hit a free throw and Mission got a dunk by Coble at 4:17 (79-73), the Eagles went to Napier once again, and he bagged another clutch triple sixteen seconds later for a nine-point lead (82-73).

MU would come back with another dunk at 3:22 to stay in striking distance (82-75), only to see Tackett deliver another post score for the blue and white (84-75). Then, after a quick Patriot layup got the Missouri crew within seven (84-77), senior guard Jared Strickland would swish a huge triple himself to push it back to double digits, 87-77.

 MU's last gasp shot from Coble got the midwestern club back within seven (87-80) at 1:58. Now running the clock and looking for a big bucket, ALC would see the ball end up in Tackett's hands with :02 glaring on the clock. The freshman coolly pivoted and buried a massive bomb just ahead of the shot clock striking :00, and provided the dagger his club needed to finally subdue the highly-regarded Patriots.

For Alice Lloyd who completes their season at 17-16, they were led on the night by the monster game from Tackett. The Logan WV native led all scorers with a career high 29 points on 12-17 accuracy, including 2-2 from deep. He also achieved a double-double as he yanked down 11 rebounds. For good measure, he handed off 3 assists.

Napier came up huge off the bench as he contributed 15 big points on 6-7 accuracy, including 3-3 from behind the arc. He drained a pair of clutch bombs to help keep the Patriots at bay, and added 3 rebounds and a pair of assists.

Also reaching double-digits was Strickland with 13 points (4-8 FG; 3-6 3PT-FG). He also delivered 7 rebounds and 3 steals. Nelson dropped in 12 points with 2 steals while Anderson was the fifth man to hit double-figures with 10 points of his own. He made half of his six shots and both trifectas he attempted.

In addition, senior forward Ben Soumahoro just missed joining the double-double club as he contributed 8 points and 8 boards. Blaine Keathley, the only graduating senior on this year's squad, came off the bench to snag a pair of important rebounds and dish off two big assists.

On the day, the Caney Creek crew was exceptionally accurate for the second straight game. They finished at 50% (34-68) from the field, including a staggering 59.1% from beyond the arc. In the second half, when clutch shooting was desperately needed, the Pippa Passes posse was an amazing 80% (8-10) from long-range over the final twenty minutes,

In addition, they also drilled 70% (14-20) from the charity stripe, controlled the glass with 47 rebounds, handed out 13 assists and swiped 8 steals.

MU was led by Coble and Thomas with 19 and 18 points respectively. They produced 33 of those points in the second half rally.  Their squad shot 47.5% (29-61) from the field, 48.1% (13-27) from beyond the arc and 51.7% (15-29) from the foul line. Additionally, they snared 32 total rebounds, handed off 15 assists and stole 9 balls.

The Eagles finish the tournament 5^th in the nation. They lost a close game to the #1 seeded, and eventual national champions, Cedarville University, but knocked off #4 Roberts Wesleyan and #3 Mission University.

With the exception of Keathley, who was a valuable three-year member, ALC will return their entire club for 2025. The squad definitely opened eyes in Lake Winona, and will strive to achieve even bigger goals next season.