The Lowdown: First Round of the 2015 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship
No. 19 Xavier (La.) vs. No. 13 Mid-America Christian University
Time: Thursday (Mar. 19) at 4:30 p.m.
Location: Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Mo.
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Live Stats:
The Dish on the Evangels: The No. 13-ranked Mid-America Christian University Evangels defeated USAO and current No. 25-ranked Southwestern Assemblies of God University in overtime to advance to the SAC tourney championship game for the first time in school history. MACU fell to current No. 11-ranked Wayland Baptist University in the title game last Saturday (Mar. 7) for just their second loss in the last 10 games. The Evangels enter the NAIA National Championship Tournament with a 23-10 overall record.
Semar Farris leads the Evangels in scoring (17.6 ppg), assists (163), steals (71) and threes (81). Farris ranks fourth in the NAIA in both total assists and total steals. Reggie Davis and Jarius Wilson are each tied for second in scoring with 11.1 points per game, while Chris Runnels leads the team with 5.5 rebounds per game and has also swatted a team-best 46 shots on the season, which is 20th nationally.
As a team, the Evangels are third in the NAIA in total rebounds (1,385) and are fifth in total offense (2,681 points).
The Dish on the Gold Rush: The Xavier (La.) Gold Rush are 24-9 overall and had a five-game winning streak snapped to Talledega in the championship game of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference game. Overall, the Gold Rush enter the NAIA National Championship Tournament winners of 13 of their last 16 contests.
Morris Wright leads the Gold Rush in both points (14.5 ppg) and assists (127). Anthony Goode is second in scoring at 12.9 ppg, followed by Sydney Coleman at 12.1 ppg. Jarvis Thibodeaux has a team-high 5.7 rebounds per game for Xavier.
The Gold Rush are ranked sixth in the NAIA in scoring defense (63.5) and are tops in defensive rebounds (27.9).
The Series: This will be the first meeting between the two schools since MACU joined the NAIA in 2007.
The rest is history: Advancing to their first-ever 2015 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship is just one historic achievement in a season chock full of such moments for the Mid-America Christian University Evangels. Earlier this year, MACU head coach Willie Holley became just the 18th head coach in college basketball history to reach the milestone 800 career wins mark. The Evangels also captured their first Sooner Athletic Conference regular season championship with a 14-4 conference record.
Tournament History: This is the Evangels' first appearance at the NAIA National Championship Tournament. However, the Gold Rush have been here the past four seasons, losing all four in the first round. Xavier has 11 appearances overall, with a 1-11 tourney record. Their lone win came in 2007 against Georgetown (Ky.).
The Coaches:
Willie Holley is in his 42nd and final season as head coach at Mid-America Christian University and became just the 18th coach in college basketball history with 800 victories with an 86-52 victory at Southwestern Christian University (1/17/15). Holley now has an astounding 811 career wins, good for second all-time in the NAIA.
Last season, he coached the Evangels to a tie for second place in the Sooner Athletic Conference with a 12-8 league record, their highest-finish as an NAIA school.
He also led MACU to its first-ever SAC Tournament victory last season and had the program within one spot of qualifying for their initial NAIA National Tournament berth.
After coming up just short for the NAIA Tournament, the Evangels qualified for their 23rd National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) National Tournament appearance.
The 2013-14 campaign also featured Holley coaching an NAIA All-America performer for the fourth straight season, as guard Semar Farris earned second-team NAIA All-America honors.
Holley has helped the Evangels become competitive in a short period of time in the Sooner Athletic Conference and broke through in 2012-13. Holley guided the Evangels to a finish of third in the SAC with a 9-7 league record. MACU made their first appearance in the NAIA Top 25 in school history, coming in as high as tied for 23rd. The Evangels went on to capture their 20th NCCAA Central Regional Championship and finished fifth at the NCCAA National Tournament.
The 2012-13 season also featured guard Charlie Shorter, who was named SAC Player of the Year, NCCAA National Player of the Year and was a first-team NAIA All-America selection. It's the third straight season Holley has coached an NAIA All-American, as Shorter and Brandon Williams were Honorable-Mention selections in 2011-12 and 2010-11, respectively.
Holley's coaching style is to establish in his players a "no quit" attitude. This style led to an improbable NCCAA National Championship in 2007. The title was the fourth of Holley's illustrious career as he previously won the championship in 1998, 2003, and 2004. This year the plan is to take that same attitude and improve on last season's effort.
During his time at Mid-America, Holley has become a fixture in the athletic program, as he served as Athletic Director from 1973-2012. In 1997, Holley was inducted into the NCCAA Hall of Fame, and he has been named the NCCAA Division II Coach of the Year four times - 1985, 1995, 2000 and 2004. Holley has also coached 18 All- Americans and won numerous conference and regional championships.
Holley earned his bachelor's degree in business administration from University of Louisiana - Monroe in 1970. He and his wife, Janet, have three daughters: Angela, Jessica and Stacey.
Dannton Jackson is in his 12th season at the helm of the Xavier University Gold Rush. Jackson is the winningest coach in school history and has guided the Gold Rush to eight appearances at the NAIA National Championship Tournament and five Gulf Coast regular season conference titles.
Up Next: With a win over Xavier, the Evangels would move on to the second round of the NAIA National Championship Tournament and face the winner of No. 4-ranked Freed-Hardeman and Missouri Valley College on Friday night (Mar. 20) at 8 p.m.
