Three college basketball teams from Kentucky competing for national titles this weekend
Western Kentucky University transfer Jake Ohmer scored 33 points and former Bowling Green High School star Kyran Jones came up big again with 24 points and 12 rebounds to lead Georgetown College to a 92-85 victory over Grace (Ind.) in the quarterfinals of the NAIA basketball national tournament at Kansas City, Mo., on Wednesday night.
The victory sent Georgetown to its 16th NAIA Fab Four where the Tigers will seek their fourth national championship this weekend. Making its record 42nd appearance in the NAIA Tournament, Georgetown (30-5) will face Indiana Tech (31-4) in the national semifinals on Friday at 8 p.m. EDT in Kansas City. The College of Idaho (34-1) will take on Ottawa University of Arizona (25-9) in the other semifinal. The championship game is set for Saturday at 8 p.m. EDT and will be televised live on ESPN3.
Georgetown trailed Grace (31-4) by as many as 13 points in the first half Wednesday before making its move. The Tigers closed the first half on a 28-13 run over the final six minutes to turn a 30-17 deficit into a 45-43 lead. Ohmer made four of his seven three-pointers during the outburst.
The Tigers never trailed again and built their lead to as large as 12 points in the second half.
Tae Dozier added 18 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals for Georgetown.
Women
Thomas More 66, Montana Western 62: The defending national champion Saints advanced to the NAIA Fab Four for the third consecutive season behind 24 points off the bench from Alex Smith at Sioux City, Iowa.
Thomas More (30-3) will face Central Methodist University of Missouri (35-0) on Friday at 7 p.m. EDT in the national semifinals. Clarke (Iowa) and Dakota State (S.D.) will square off in Friday’s other semifinal. The championship game is scheduled for 8 p.m. EDT Saturday (ESPN3).
The Saints made 11 three-point baskets, including five by Smith, to put away Montana Western (28-6). Emily Simon contributed 13 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals to the win. Zoie Barth (Highlands) added 11 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.
Clarke (Iowa) 76, Campbellsville 51: A magical season that include 31 victories and two 14-game winning streaks came to an end in the NAIA Tournament quarterfinals in Sioux City on Wednesday.
The Tigers (31-3) scored 18 points in the first quarter but only 33 the rest of the game in the loss to Clarke (31-4).
Cold shooting was the primary culprit as Campbellsville made only 15 of 55 attempts overall (27.2 percent) and six of 20 from three-point range (30 percent).
Sarah Sutton (Allen County-Scottsville) was the Tigers’ high scorer with nine points and Kaitlynn Wilks (Lincoln County) had eight.
▪ Campbellsville’s Ginger Colvin was named NAIA National Coach of the Year by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association on Wednesday.
“Ginger was chosen for this honor after leading her team to an exceptional season,” the WBCA said in its announcement. “The WBCA recognizes and applauds her leadership example that can be seen in her student-athletes, institution and community.”
A big weekend
In addition to Georgetown’s men and Thomas More’s women playing for national championships this weekend, one additional college basketball team from Kentucky is taking part in a Final Four.
The Transylvania University women from Lexington will be in Hartford, Connecticut, for the NCAA Division III national semifinals on Saturday.
Transylvania (31-0) takes on Smith College of Northampton, Mass. (30-1) at 7:30 p.m. The other semifinal pits Christopher Newport University of Newport News, Va. (30-0) against Rhode Island College of Providence, R.I. (28-3) at 5 p.m.
The national championship game will take place April 1 at noon in Dallas, where title games in Divisions I, II and III will all be contested at the same site in the same weekend.
