For the fourth time in program history, The Apprentice School men's basketball team hoisted a national championship trophy after knocking off No. 3 Villa Maria Friday night, 64-43.
This is the second time in program history that the Builders have gone back-to-back, winning their first two national championships in the 2001-02 and 02-03 seasons.
The Builders held the Vikings to just eight points in the first half as they stormed out to a 33-8 halftime lead in front of the home crowd. The eight point half is the lowest in a title game since 2014 when Washington Adventist held Tennessee Temple to just 17 points in a half.
The Vikings put forth a fight to start the second half, going on an 8-0 run to cut the lead down to 33-16, but Apprentice never backed down, keeping Villa at bay all night and winning by the second largest margin in a title game since 2008.
With the win, the senior class of nine players will go out with back-to-back national championships, finishing their careers on top of the mountain of the USCAA.
Chris Hinmon (5'9''-PG) was named to the All-Tournament team after leading all scorers Friday with 16 points off the bench. Donovan Means (6'3''-G) also earned All-Tournament honors with a double-double of 10 points and 10 boards in the championship game.
Adrion Wall (6'3''-G) was named Tournament MVP just days after being named the Division I Player of the Year. He finished Friday night with 14 points. Wayne Hedgepeth (6'3''-G) also had 14 points.
Head coach Michael Gainey becomes the first basketball alum to lead the Builders to a national championship, doing so in his first season at the helm.

USCAA Division I Final:
Villa Maria - Apprentice 43-64

USCAA Division I Final Four:
Berkeley, NY - Apprentice 83-100
Villa Maria - Lyon 60-52

USCAA Division I Elite Eight:
Villa Maria - Mid-Atlantic Chr 60-55
Lyon - Bry.&Str.-Buff 84-63
Berkeley, NY - Bry.&Str.-Syrac 81-68
SE Illinois - Apprentice 61-85

Courtesy of theuscaa.com

Shaeden Olden (6'3''-G) hit two free throws with 14 seconds left and Miami-Hamilton survived a last second shot from Penn State Schuylkill as the Harriers captured the 2025 USCAA Men’s Division 2 National Championship with a 53-52 win on Saturday night. Penn State Schuylkill jumped out to a 17-9 lead after an Antwuan Byrd (5'9''-PG) three-pointer with 12:12 on the clock. That advantage grew to 23-13 following a pair of Issac Lane (G) free throws at the 8:40 mark. The Harriers responded with a 14-4 burst capped by a three-pointer from Michael Keehan (6'3''-SG) with 42 seconds left to even the game at 27-all. Byrd hit a free throw for the Nittany Lions with eight seconds on the clock as Penn State Schuylkill took a 28-27 lead into halftime. That one-point advantage ballooned to 11 as Penn State Schuylkill started the second half on a 10-0 run with Andrew Sepp (6'0''-G) draining a three-pointer for a 38-27 lead at the 16:58 mark. Miami-Hamilton answered that run with a 15-3 burst as Keehan’s three-pointer with 9:31 remaining put them up 42-41. After a couple minutes of the lead going back-and-forth, Cory Davis (6'4''-F/G) hit a jumper followed by a pair of free throws to put Miami-Hamilton up 46-44 with 6:38 left. That was a lead that Miami-Hamilton never relinquished, but things did get dicey down the stretch as Amir Gray (G) went 1-for-2 for Penn State Schuylkill to make it 51-50 with 33 seconds left. Olden responded with his two free throws and the Nittany Lions had a bucket by Gray with under a second left to bring the 53-52 final. Cory Davis paced Miami-Hamilton (22-7) with 16 points and seven rebounds, while Keehan added 14 points. Lane topped Penn State Schuylkill (21-11) with 19 points and seven rebounds, with Andrew Sepp scoring 15 points and Byrd chipping in 10.

ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM
Great Bay CC: Theodore Wolfe (6'5''-F)
PSU Wilkes Barre: Jedidiah Ashton (6'6''-F)
PSU Schuylkill: Antwuan Byrd, Issac Lane
Miami Hamilton: Michael Keehan
Tournament MVP: Cory Davis of Miami Hamilton

Courtesy of: uscaachampionships.com

Your Nelson Warriors Men's Basketball team (24-6), in only the program's second season, is on top the basketball world, National Champions after defeating the Columbia International University Rams, 89-74, to win the National Christian Collegiate Association of America title at Keeter Gym in Point Lookout, MO.

"I can't easily articulate how I feel right now," gushed head coach Kole Ebert who took over the reins of the program two games into the season. "How I feel right now, I never want to forget. These guys played their hearts out all season. They put it all on the line every play of every game, and it paid off for them. This championship is the fruit of their efforts. They are a team. They are brothers. They are Warriors. The way they carry themselves both on and off the court represent the school and their communities exceptionally. And now, they are forever champions. I feel unbelievable for them."

Ranked #1 (Columbia International) and #2 (Nelson) in the tournament, the two teams battled as the organizing committee hoped they would, playing back-and-forth throughout the entire first half. Down by six, the Warriors used a 15-5 run over 3:26 to take a four-point lead, their largest of the game to that point, but not enough to hold off the Rams just yet. A Christian Howard basket at the buzzer sent the game into halftime tied at 43-all, resolving nothing over the game's first 20 minutes.

"Both teams played pretty well in the first half," noted coach Ebert. "We missed more 3's than I would have liked, and turned the ball over 8 times, but we knew that the Rams were going to play us really tough, and I felt like we withstood the pressure pretty well."

The outcome remained unclear early in the second half, and the match at times even became a little chippy as the tension of the moment began to boil over just a little bit. That is, until the Warriors unleashed several of their patented second half runs which broke the game wide-open.

First a 10-4 run following a Larry Holmes (6'1''-G) jumper put Nelson back up by six 6:27 into the half. Then, Harley roared his engines. As the team and its fans have grown accustomed, Harley hit a 3, then following a Rams bucket in rebuttal, Rob Jenkins nailed a 3 himself pushing the lead to double-digits for the first time, followed by another Upton 3, and an 11-2 run was capped off by an Upton fastbreak alley-oop assist on a highlight-reel 'Hoppin Holmes slam - all within just 90 seconds.

Now up 15, the final nine minutes became about game management, staying in control of both sides of the ball, and surviving an ever-more desperate Columbia International club. In one final push to close the lead, the Rams began to stretch their defensive pressure nearly full court, swarming the ball, and twice trapping the Warriors just inside halfcourt with about 5 minutes remaining, causing coach Ebert to passionately call back-to-back timeouts to save his team's possessions.

But for every ounce of energy the the Rams used to press, Nelson released it's inner-Warrior spirit, meeting the challenge head on, refusing to succumb to the pressure. At each passing moment, the Nelson men grew stronger in both heart and mind, withstanding one final push including a 5-0 run that cut the lead back down to just 10 points with 5:08 remaining. The gap would never move closer than that, and eventually, when Orlando Gonzales (6'0''-PG) stole the ball with 33 seconds to go, the Warriors found themselves in a position to watch the game clock tick down to zero, and let the emotion of the moment sink in.

Harley Upton and Rob Jenkins played all 40 minutes for with Warriors, with Upton leading the way in scoring, dropping 21 points on 8-16 shooting including 3-6 from beyond the arc, chipping in with 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Jenkins achieved a double-double with 20 points, including 4 from distance, and a game-high 11 rebounds, as well as 3 assists and 2 steals. For their efforts both players were named 1st team all-tournament while Harley was named Tournament MVP. On a scorching 56.8% from the field and 47.0% from beyond the arc, Upton averaged 24.0p/5.3r/3.0a pergame while Jenkins shot 42.5%, including 37.5% from 3pt range, averaging 18.7p/7.0r/3.7a.

Orlando Gonzales finished with 16 points, but his defensive help stopped several Rams runs and paved the way for the offense, snagging 4 boards and 3 steals. Zaveion Bineyard was in foul trouble for much of the game, but his presence was well felt on both sides of the ball, finishing with 6 points and 4 rebounds. Terrin Ross too had some foul trouble, but was often a spark-plug on both ends of the floor, finishing with 4 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals.

Larry Holmes led the bench unit with 14 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists, his offensive play often coming at a moment when the team needed a touch of energy, a deciding factor in the game's outcome. Tommy Randolph (6'2''-G) too effectively handled what the Rams threw at him, scoring 8 points and snagging 4 rebounds in 16 minutes. Petar Lazic grabbed 3 rebounds, but filled in for coach Ebert nicely with two of his starting bigs down at times both due to fouls.

The men's and women's basketball seasons are now both officially over, but baseball and softball remain in full swing! Please check the Nelson University Athletics calender for a schedule events, and don't forget to come out and cheer for your Warriors!

NCCAA of theuscaa.com

Minneapolis, MN – One year after falling in the national championship game on their home court, #1 North Central University finished the story, knocking off #2 Spurgeon College 101-92 to claim their first NCCAA DII Men’s Basketball National Championship in program history.

Championship: #1 North Central University 101, #2 Spurgeon College 92
Neither squad could score for the first two minutes of the contest, but a pair of layups from Carrington McNeal (6'2''-G) and a Tanner Holtman (6'3''-G) three put NCU on top 7-0. A pair of jumpers from Diego Sanchez (6'0''-PG) cut the Rams lead down to just two, and a Joseph Allen (6'4''-F/G) layup gave Spurgeon their first lead, going on top 20-19 halfway through the opening frame.
Another Holtman three put NCU ahead, and a Josh Hoffman (6'5''-G) dunk swelled the North Central advantage to 37-30. A pair of shots fell for Sanchez to cut the lead to three for the Rams, but a Carmello McNeal (6'2''-G) shot at the halftime horn put North Central ahead 47-39 at halftime.
Holtman and the Rams came out firing in the second half, as he nailed three big shots from beyond the arc to open the second stanza, pushing NCU ahead 60-47. Holtman continued to pour it on, as he broke the North Central University program record with his tenth three of the game, and the Rams pushed forward 72-57.
Spurgeon did not go away quietly, as Drew Middleton (6'1''-F) nailed the first three of the game for the Knights, and then a dunk from Joseph Allen and another Drew Middleton triple cut the NCU lead to just 86-74 with 4:34 left in the game.
Spurgeon got as close as 91-87, but a layup from Remy Wedgeworth-Brown (6'1''-G) was the dagger, as North Central took home their first ever NCCAA DII Men’s Basketball National Championship with a 101-92 win.
Holtman scored 33 points for NCU, shooting a blistering 11-13 from three. Carmello McNeal added 18 points for the Rams in the win.

Third Place Game: #4 Crown College 94, #3 Manhattan Christian College 67
Fourth-seeded Crown College shot 46.8 percent from the field and 34.3 percent from three, as the Polars rolled to a 94-67 win over #3 Manhattan Christian College to win today’s third-place game.
Both teams emptied the bench early, and a pair of threes from Jackson DiBona (6'2''-G) and Carter Behne (6'0''-PG) put Crown ahead 32-30. Landon Gray answered with a triple of his own, but a pair of layups from Tyrus Buckner and another Carter Behne three gave the Polars a 42-32 lead at halftime.
Carter Behne stayed hot from deep, nailing a trip of shots early in the second half to put Crown ahead 54-34. John Grigsby (6'9''-F) added a pair of three-pointers as well to keep the Polars ahead.
A dunk from Davis Rokey cut the lead down to just 13 late in the game, but a pair of shots from Micah Ladd kept Crown on top, and the Polars rolled to the 94-67 win and a third-place finish
Buckner finished his career for the Polars in style, scoring 31 points in his final game in a Crown College uniform. Carter Behne scored 23 points, connecting on four shots from distance while hauling down six boards.

Fifth Place Game: #5 Grace Christian University 79, #7 Bob Jones University 71
A triple-double from Zac Yorke (6'2''-F) helped push #5 Grace Christian University to a fifth-place finish at the 2025 NCCAA DII Men’s Basketball National Championship, defeating #7 Bob Jones University 79-71.
The lead bounced back-and-forth early, but Quay Humphries (6'0''-PG) nailed a pair of threes to put Grace Christian ahead.
A steal and a slam from Shad Vander Hart tied the contest, but a three-ball from Graydon Hutchinson and a nice pass from Hutchinson to set up Aiden Burns put the Tigers on top 37-29 at the break.
Vander Hart recorded yet another emphatic slam dunk to open the second half for Bob Jones, but a triple by Keys Omari put Grace Christian ahead 42-37.
Grace Christian continued to pull away, as an alley oop pass from Hutchinson to Omari put the Tigers on top 63-52. With just under five minutes left in the game, Zac Yorke found Burns for a three-ball in the corner, and Grace Christian took the fifth-place contest 79-71.
In his final game for the Tigers, Yorke recorded a triple-double, tallying 13 points, 15 rebounds, and handed out 10 assists.
Carmello McNeal from North Central University was named Tournament MVP. The rest of the All-Tournament Team can be found here.

NCCAA Division II Final:
North Central - Spurgeon 101-92

NCCAA Division II 3rd Place:
Crown - Manhattan Chr 94-67

NCCAA Division II Final Four:
North Central - Crown 83-76
Spurgeon - Manhattan Chr 93-85

NCCAA Division II Elite Eight:
North Central - Champion Chr 105-68
Spurgeon - Bob Jones 99-97
Manhattan Chr - Campbellsville-Har. 72-69
Crown - Grace Christian -74-69

Courtesy of thenccaa.org