CALDWELL, Idaho — This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press.
After facing Cornerstone (Mich.) in the previous round of the NAIA men’s basketball tournament, the Yotes will face another team from the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference in the Round of 16.
Madonna University (Mich.) lost to Cornerstone in the WHAC tournament championship, but still earned an at-large bid to the tournament. That’s who the College of Idaho will take on for a shot to reach the quarterfinals Friday night at 4 p.m. MT in Kansas City.
The Yotes have excelled under head coach Colby Blaine in the month of March, posting a 19-3 record under his direction. It’s a third-straight trip to Kansas City for the Yotes, who have become quite comfortable making the trip to Missouri. The Yotes arrived in Kansas City on Monday.
“We have an itinerary from Monday all the way through Tuesday night at 9 p.m. where we want to be in the locker room celebrating,” Blaine said. “We know where we’re watching film, when we’re practicing, where we’re eating. That’s a huge advantage. It takes a lot of stress off our guys to know where they need to be and what they’re doing.”
The College of Idaho hopes to stay in Kansas City through next Tuesday, the night the championship game takes place. Only four games stand in the way of a repeat national championship for the Yotes.
Not only are they back in a familiar spot, they enter each game with a target on their back. But Blaine said their preparation since last season doesn’t have them focused on what they accomplished last season.
“What we’ve learned this year as a team is that for this team to be successful, we have to be who we are now, and not who we were last year,” Blaine said. “Every time we catch ourselves ‘we did this last year or we ran this last year,’ we remind ourselves we’re a new team. We got guys in new roles, new positions feeling new emotions.”
Should the Yotes defeat Madonna, they’ll play either Cumberlands (Ky.) or Morningside (Iowa) Saturday night.
Here’s a look at the other teams still alive in the Liston Quadrant.
NO. 5 MADONNA (27-6)
The Crusaders finished atop their league with a 19-3 record. Two players stand out on the scouting report — Brendan Young and Isaac Anderson. Both were first team all-conference players. Young averages 18 points and nine rebounds per game, Anderson averages 17.4 points and 6.9 rebounds. The Crusaders average just over nine 3-pointers and 81 points per game.
“Madonna is in Detroit and they play with that blue collar spirit,” Blaine said. “They’re tough, they’re physical, they’re athletic. They’ve got two leading guards at 18 points per game which is quite a bit. But the other guards really complement them with their ability to shoot…we have to make sure we contain the three-point line.”
The Crusaders avoided an upset in the previous round, defeating No. 13 Shawnee State 81-78 to advance. Madonna has never reached this stage of the NAIA tournament.
The Yotes and Crusaders met in Caldwell last season in a 82-68 win for the College of Idaho.
NO. 2 CUMBERLANDS 28-4
This is Cumberlands’ ninth appearance in the Round of 16. They nearly were upset in the first round by No. 15 Philander Smith, but hung on to win 97-96. The Patriots average 88 points per game with seven players averaging at least nine points per game.
Leading scorer Jonathan Brown (14.7 ppg) was the Mid-South Conference Player of the Year. Cumberlands earned an at-large bid and finished tied for first in league play.
NO. 3 MORNINGSIDE 23-9
The Mustangs earned an at-large bid out of the Great Plains Athletic Conference, which sent five teams to the tournament. They’re back in the Round of 16 for the second year in a row. They defeated No. 14 Lourdes and No. 6 Georgetown in the previous two rounds.
Morningside has two players averaging 20 points per game — guard Joey Skoff and center Ely Doble.
This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press, read more on IdahoPress.com.
Watch more Sports:
See KTVB sports coverage in our YouTube playlist:
HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET NEWS FROM KTVB:
Download the KTVB News Mobile App
Apple iOS: Click here to download
Google Play: Click here to download
Watch news reports for FREE on YouTube: KTVB YouTube channel
Stream Live for FREE on ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching 'KTVB'.
Stream Live for FREE on FIRE TV: Search ‘KTVB’ and click ‘Get’ to download.
