Student Section NAIA Tournament
Ryan Mitchell, MU Sports Information

PREVIEW: Crusaders Set to Take on Defending National Champions

3/19/2024 12:07:00 PM

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Crusaders earned a spot in the NAIA Round of 16 with a 81-78 thrilling victory over Shawnee State, set to begin this Thursday in Kansas City, Missouri. Now, standing in their was is No. 1 seeded and the defending national champions, The College of Idaho Yotes. 
The No.5 seeded Crusaders (27-6) are set to meet the defending national champions, No. 3 ranked team in the final NAIA Top 25 Poll and the No. 1 seeded Yotes from The College of Idaho (30-3) on Friday, March 22 at 6:00 p.m. EST. These two teams met in a non-conference match-up early last season, where the Crusaders traveled to Caldwell. The Yotes took that one by a score of 82-68, a then sophomore Brendan Young had a game high 31 points, paired with 17 rebounds on 12-of-17 shooting. This year, the Yotes have one of the most balanced offensive attacks in the country. They average the 10th most points per game in the country with 87.8 points per game just behind Dordt (Iowa) who the Crusaders faced off against in the First Round of the NAIA Tournament. 

They are led by the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) player of the year, sophomore guard Semaje Morgan. On the year, Morgan leads the team in points per game (13.9), assists per game (4.0), and three-point percentage (41.3%). In the Yotes Round of 32 win against Cornerstone (Mich.), Morgan led with 18 points and four assists on 7-of-14 shooting. 

Behind Morgan, the Yotes have three other all conference team members, starting with Johnny Radford. Radford is second in scoring at 12.2 per game, while also shooting an efficient 40.7% from downtown. Drew Wyman also adds an efficient 11.7 points per game on 40.7% from the three point line. Jake O'niel rounds out the double digit scorers for the Yotes, averaging 10.2 points per contest, as well as being the leading rebounder on the team with 8.2 per night. The Yotes had one more post-season award on their resume, with Straton Rogers being named the CCC Defensive Player of the Year, averaging over a steal per game, and being seen as one of the more dynamic on-ball defenders in the conference off the Yotes bench. 
On the other side of the one-five match-up, the Crusaders look to continue their historic season. The Crusaders claimed their first ever regular season championship in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC), as well as appearing in the conference championship for the fourth time in the last five seasons. This success led to the highest national team ranking since 2019, as the Crusaders slotted 14th in the final two polls of the season. The Crusaders are led by first team all conference, junior forward Brendan Young, who enters the sweet 16 leading the Crusaders in points per game (18.0), rebounds per game (9.1) and field goal percentage (53.9%). Junior guard Isaac Anderson slots in as the second leading scorer at 17.4 per game, while also being second in rebounds per game (5.9) and assists per game (3.1), while adding 1.3 steals per game. The Crusaders have one second team all conference honor as well, with junior center Matthew MacLellan slotting in as the third leading scorer (12.4), third in rebounds per game (5.4), while shooting 46% from the field. In the tournament, this big three has combined for 68% of the teams points. If you include fifth senior Devin Dunn into that equation, who had 14 points in the NAIA Round of 32, that percentage point is 83.0%.

The winner between Madonna and The College of Idaho will take on the winner of No. 2 seeded Cumberlands (Ky.) and No. 3 seeded Morningside (Iowa). That game will take place on Saturday, March 23th at 8:00 p.m EST. Saturday's winner will advance to the NAIA Fab Four on Monday, March 25th.

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