KANSAS CITY, Mo. The Langston (Okla.) Lions will battle for the Red Banner for the second time in three years, and their opponent will be one with whom they are very familiar.
Langston (29-5) held off Ave Maria (Fla.), 72-69, in overtime in a Fab Four game at the 88th annual NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship Monday night at Municipal Auditorium and will now take on will take on Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) (34-1) in the national championship game Tuesday at 7 p.m. CT in a rematch of the 2024 title game. Freed-Hardeman - which won the 2024 title game, 71-67 - advanced to Tuesday's title game by beating Benedictine-Mesa (Ariz.), 96-71, in the other semifinal earlier Monday night.
Ave Maria (30-5) took advantage of a slow offensive start by Langston - the Lions missed their first nine shots from the field and didn't make a field goal a putback by Trey Clarke with 14:39 to go in the half cut the Gyrenes' lead to 9-3 - to open up as much as a 12-point lead in the first half. With Ave Marie leading 22-10 after a Jack Watkins tip-in with 6:34 left, Langston then went on a 9-2 run to close to within 24-19 on a basket by Robert Alexander with 3:02 remaining before halftime. However, the Gyrenes scored the next four points and took a 28-21 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Watkins led Ave Maria with 10 points and two rebounds, and the Gyrenes had four other players with at least four points in the opening half. Ave Maria was 9-for-21 (42.9 percent) from the field, making 2-of-8 (25 percent) from 3-point range, but also making all eight of its free throws to help bolster its lead.
Seven different players scored for the Lions in the first half, paced by Antonio Lewis's six points. Langston was 9-for-35 shooting (25.7 percent) overall, making 2 of its 15 3-point shots (13.3 percent). The Lions did outrebound Ave Maria, 21-18, in the first half and had fewer turnovers (four, to Ave Maria's nine) than the Gyrenes in the opening 20 minutes.
Langston - which has the No. 1 scoring defense in the nation, allowing just 59.6 points per game - came out firing in the second half, using a 7-0 run to tie the game at 31 with 17:06 to go in regulation and pulling ahead, 46-41, halfway through the second half. Ave Maria, which had a six-game winning streak snapped with the loss, rose to the challenge, slowly cutting into Langston's lead before taking a 54-52 on a bank shot 3-pointer by Jonathan Effertz with 3:34 remaining.
The teams traded the lead for the remainder of regulation until Effertz made one of two free throws with 9.3 seconds to go to pull the Gyrenes into a 57-all tie and force overtime. It was the third overtime game of the Final Site out of 14 games thus far.
Langston never trailed in the extra period, getting five straight points from Clarke to go up 62-57. Ave Maria kept attempting to rally, but every time the Gyrenes made a basket, the Lions would respond. Watkins made one of two free throws to get Ave Maria back to within 64-63 with 1:53 remaining, but a 3-pointer by Robert Alexander extended Langston's lead back out to 67-63 with 1:28 to go. The teams traded baskets until Ave Maria, trailing 72-69, forced a turnover and had the ball with a chance to tie with 5.4 seconds showing on the clock.
After several passes on the perimeter, the Gyrenes got off a 3-pointer that went in, but the shot was after the horn sounded, giving Langston its third win at the Final Site by a total of nine points.
Orlando Thomas led Langston with 17 points. Clarke had 12 points and nine rebounds, Lewis finished with 11, and Omar Henry tossed in 10 points and five rebounds for the Lions in the win.
Watkins scored 20 points and grabbed five rebounds to lead Ave Maria. Alex Sherwood had 14 points and eight rebounds, Effertz chipped in 12 points and six rebounds, and Marlon Bennett scored 11 points and grabbed five rebounds for the Gyrenes.
