The Lowdown: Second Round of the 2015 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship
Missouri Valley College vs. No. 13 Mid-America Christian University
Time: Friday (Mar. 20) at 8 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 dominated in their first NAIA National Championship Tournament game appearance, defeating Xavier (La.) 84-70 in a wire-to-wire victory. MACU jumped out to a 10-2 lead and led by as many as 12 points three times in the half. The Evangels never let up and used a 12-2 spurt to take a commanding 20-point lead before putting it away on a Jerrick Massenburge three that gave MACU it's largest lead of 77-53. Massenburge led the Evangels with 17 points and nailed 4-of-7 from three-point distance. Semar Farris scored 16 points along with six rebounds, four assists and four steals. Chris Runnels added 12 points and had a team-high seven rebounds. Runnels was also a perfect 6-of-6 from the free-throw line. Brock Hunter and Josh Smith also scored in double-figures with 10 points apiece.
The Evangels are now 24-10 on the season and have won nine of their past 11 games.
Semar Farris leads the Evangels in scoring (17.5 ppg), assists (167), steals (75) and threes (85). Farris now ranks second in the NAIA in both total steals and fourth in total assists. Reggie Davis and Jarius Wilson are each tied for second in scoring with 11.0 points per game, while Chris Runnels leads the team with 5.5 rebounds per game and has also swatted a team-best 49 shots on the season, which is 17th nationally.
As a team, the Evangels are fourth in the NAIA in total assists (541) and are fifth in both total scoring offense (2765) and total rebounding offense (1416)
The Dish on the Vikings: The Missouri Valley College Vikings are riding a seven-game winning streak, including knocking off No. 4-ranked Freed-Hardeman last night 71-69 in OT in the first round of the NAIA National Championship Tournament. The Vikings have five wins over NAIA National Championship qualifiers during this streak and are 22-10 overall this season.
James Lane is pacing the Vikings this year in points (15.3 ppg), rebounds (8.3 rpg) and steals (45). Raviel Burton is second in scoring with 13.5 ppg and has a team-high 41 blocks. Byron Cooke has recorded a team-high 106 assists on the season, while Brad Hamilton (12.4 ppg) and Andre Scott (10.3 ppg) each score in double-figures for Missouri Valley.
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: The Evangels won their NAIA National Championship Tournament debut last night (Mar. 19) over Xavier (La.), while Missouri Valley College defeated No. 4-ranked Freed-Hardeman last night in their first tourney appearance since 1961. The Vikings are now 4-2 overall at the NAIA National Championship Tournament.
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 812 career wins, good for second all-time in the NAIA.
This season he has guided the Evangels to their first Sooner Athletic Conference regular season championship and has MACU in its initial NAIA National Championship Tournament appearance.
Last season, he coached the Evangels to a tie for second place in the SAC 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.
Chad Lance is in his 12th season at the helm of the Missouri Valley College Vikings and is the the school's all-time leader in career wins.
Up Next: With a win over Missouri Valley College tonight, the Evangels would move on to the quarterfinal round of the NAIA National Championship Tournament and play the winner of No. 5 Campbellsville (Ky.) and Westmont (Calif.) on Saturday night (Mar. 21) at 6 p.m.
