KANSAS CITY, Mo.  — The No. 2-ranked LSUA Generals, seeded No. 1 in their quadrant, were upset Saturday night in the NAIA Men’s Basketball National Championship Round of Eight, 98-87 by seventh-seeded Oklahoma Wesleyan.

Denied a Final Four berth, the Generals finished with a 31-3 record.

“Not the end we wanted,” LSUA coach Dimario Jackson said. “Of course, a lot of things we could have done better, but that one game doesn’t define our season. These guys worked their butts off every day. They’re a great group of young men.”

The Eagles sank 48.5 percent of their shots to just 35.6 for the Generals, who were outshot 42.9-25.9 percent on 3-pointers and were outrebounded 54-44.

Oklahoma Wesleyan (27-7) stormed to an 11-0 lead in the first four-and-a-half minutes. Their lead became 18-3 and expanded to 27-5 with 11:42 left in the half. The Generals battled back to head into the locker room trailing 45-32.

In the first six minutes of the second half, the Eagles outscored LSUA 18-8 over the stretch for a 65-40 lead.

Jordan Decuir led LSUA with a team-high 26 points off the bench.

Senior Jakemin Abney recorded 19 points, while EJ McQuillan tallied 16. McQuillan led LSUA with four assists. All-American senior Kashie Natt was held to just nine points, making only 2 of 11 shots, but he collected 10 rebounds. McQuillan, LSU’s No. 2 scorer behind Natt all season, shot 4-17 from the floor.

LSUA was the only one of the four top seeds in quadrants not to reach Monday night’s Final Four.

LSUA 83, Bethel (Ind.) 78 in OT:  In Friday’s Sweet 16 round, LSUA survived fourth-seeded Bethel behind Natt’s 28 points and 26 by McQuillan in a game that had 19 lead changes and 12 ties.
  
The Generals had an eight-point lead at halftime but the Pilots (24-9) drew even, 47-47, with 12:05 left in regulation. They worked their lead to as many as nine with just under six minutes to play, 62-53.

A pair of consecutive threes from McQuillan and a tip-in by TJ James pulled LSUA within one, 62-61, with 4:13 to play. The Generals tied the game on their next possession with a layup from Natt, 63-63.

The Generals led 69-66 with 2.7 seconds on the clock after McQuillan knocked down a pair of shots at the charity stripe. The Pilots drained a deep 3-pointer as time expired to force overtime.

In OT, the lead switched hands until a jumper from Natt put LSUA up 79-78 with 27 seconds left. He sank four free throws to seal the victory.