The Oklahoma Wesleyan University Eagles outlasted the Ottawa University Braves 74-68 in the finals of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball championship tournament at Hartman Arena on Monday night. The Eagles, who shot 40% from the floor and 31% from beyond the three-point arc, jumped out to a quick lead over the KCAC regular-season champs. Three and a half minutes in, the Eagles led 12-3 and by the 12:20 mark in the opening half, the lead was double digits, 21-11. The Eagles had their largest lead of the half 31-16 with 8:43 remaining in the half. From there, the Braves began chipping away at the Eagle lead and by the halftime intermission, they had clawed all the way back and tied the game at 41. In the first four minutes of the second half, there were five ties and two lead changes. The game was tied at 52 at the 16-minute mark when OKWU went on a 12-0 run to go back up by double digits, 64-52. Like they did in the first half, the Braves started to whittle away at the Eagle lead. They went on a 10-0 run of their own, and got the lead down to two points with 6:30 remaining. Three minutes later the Eagle lead was just 1, after a layup by the Braves' Ryan Haskins (5'10''-PG). On their next possession, OKWU's Kaleb Stokes knocked down a clutch three-pointer to push the Eagle lead back out to four points. The Braves had several good looks at three-pointers down the stretch, but they couldn't get them to fall. OKWU's Brooks Haddock sealed the victory at the line, making a pair of free throw with 24 seconds on the clock. For the game, the Braves shot 39% from the floor, and 33% from deep. The Braves had a trio of players score in double figures, led by Mat Baldeh (6'1''-G) with 13, Mason McDow (6'7''-F) with 11, and Jaquan Daniels (6'4''-G) with 10. Darryl Bowie (5'10''-PG), the KCAC Player of the Year, was held to just eight points, ten below his season average of 18.1 ppg. The Eagles also had three players reach the double-digit plateau, getting 18 from Janson Lietzke, 12 from Valentin Van Putten, and 11 from Haddock. Eagle Head Coach Donnie Bostwick was asked what this win meant for the program and he responded, "It's what you do, you want to play for this. This is the best the conference has ever been, and to do this with all of the other teams being so good, was great." With the tournament championship, the Eagles punch their ticket to the NAIA national tournament, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, for the fourth time, and their third in as many seasons. As the regular-season champions, the Braves will receive the second automatic qualifying bid to the tournament. Had the Braves won, the second AQ would have fallen to the Southwestern College Moundbuilders. Now, the Moundbuilders will have to wait until the NAIA bracket reveal show on Wednesday to see if they did enough during the regular season to earn an at-large bid.
Player of the Year: Darryl Bowie (5'10''-PG) of Ottawa, KS Defensive Player of the Year: Jaylon Scott (6'5''-G) of Bethel, KS Freshman of the Year: Jun Murdock (5'11''-PG) of Friends Newcomer of the Year: Justin Jones (6'2''-G) of Bethany, KS Coach of the Year: Aaron Siebenthall of Ottawa, KS
Bostwick
