With conference player of the year Kashie Natt pouring in a season-high 36 points Sunday, the LSUA Generals men’s basketball team earned its second straight Red River Athletic Conference Tournament championship with an 88-79 victory over the University of the Southwest (N.M.) at the Rapides Parish Coliseum.
Natt sank 15-for-24 from the field for the Generals (28-2, 22-2) against the upset-minded Mustangs (17-13, 12-12 RRAC), who led by as much as 14 in the first half. Trailing 39-25 with four-and-a-half minutes left in the opening period, the Generals went to work chipping away and tied it at 41 on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from EJ McQuillan.
“Not the way we wanted to start, for sure,” LSUA coach Dimario Jackson said. “Southwest is a good team. As a team, they are very well-rounded.
“We knew at some point we’d get going offensively,” Jackson added. “It was just a matter of getting stops.”
The Generals’ run continued at the start of the second to cap a span sandwiching halftime and covering seven-minutes where LSUA outscored Southwest 22-2.
A 10-1 burst gave LSUA a 57-44 advantage seven minutes into the back half but over the next five minutes, Southwest chipped away to bring the score within one, 64-63.
But the Mustangs couldn’t regain the lead. With under 2:30 left, a layup from Natt and free throws by Kaleb Pouncy gave the Generals breathing room, 80-74, and the Generals stretched the spread at the end.
Pouncy finished with 16 points off the bench. Jordan Decuir tallied 17, also coming off the bench.
The Generals now await their opponent in the NAIA Men’s Basketball Championship rirst round. LSUA has already been announced as a host site for first and second-round games March 14-15, with the regional winner advancing to the national tournament. The other three teams in the Alexandria regional and pairings will be announced Thursday.
LSUA WOMEN NIPPED IN FINAL: A tie-breaking three-point play by Erynn Williams with seven seconds left was the difference for regular-season champion LSU Shreveport to capture its second straight RRAC women’s tournament crown Sunday evening, with a 54-51 final denying LSUA (23-8) back-to-back upsets to win the tourney.
Senior Dannah Martin-Hartwick, who scored 22 twice to lead LSUA in its first and second-round wins, nailed a 3-pointer with 18.2 seconds remaining to tie the championship game. But LSUS (27-3) got the go-ahead layup and free throw from Williams, the RRAC’s Defensive Player of the Year, and survived after a last-gasp 3-pointer from LSUA was off the mark.
LSUA beat Louisiana Christian (10-17) in the first round Friday 74-60, pulling away by outscoring the Wildcats 25-10 in the third quarter, then upset second-seeded Xavier Saturday evening 70-63 to beat the Gold Nuggets (27-3) for the first time in three tries this season.
In each of its three tournament games, LSUA held the opponent to 31 percent shooting aim. But after making 53 percent in the upset of Xavier, LSUA connected on just 34 percent in the final. The Generals barely missed upsetting LSUS on the road in the regular-season finale, falling by 1 in Shreveport.
LSUA will wait to see if it gets an at-large NAIA playoff invitation when the field is announced Thursday.
LCU MEN REACH SEMIS: The sixth-seeded Wildcats got 19 points off the bench from Kevin Wiltz, 18 by Devin Carter and 14 from Bryce Weinmunson Friday to upset third-seeded Our Lady of the Lake (20-9). Wiltz carried a 4.5 scoring average into the contest but rose to the occasion to get LCU to the RRAC semis for the fourth time in five seasons.
But seventh-seeded Southwest pulled the surprise in the semifinals, shooting 54 percent overall in a 75-63 decision that ended the Wildcats’ season with a 16-14 record. Carter led LCU with 18 points.