Impressive defensive effort propels Alice Lloyd Eagles to NCCAA Mideast Region semi-final victory over Oakland City University, 74-62

Will face Asbury University Saturday for Championship

Oakland City, IN: On March 1^st. the Alice Lloyd Eagles journeyed to the Hoosier state to face the physical Oakland City Mighty Oaks in the semi-final round of the NCCAA Mideast Regional Tournament. The visiting Bluegrass boys rode a solid defensive effort to take the nice 74-62 win.

In the opening stanza, boosted by the offensive effort of guard Drake Moore, and the cold-shooting of the Eagle club, the home squad jumped out to a 16-11 lead at 11:40.

 ALC would respond with a burst of their own to fight back. Over the next 5:40, the Pippa Passes posse outscored the hosts 16-6 to gain the advantage, 27-22. Freshman forward Jackson Tackett had the final five points in the run.

Towards the end of the half, the visiting crew would feed the ball to senior forward Ben Soumahoro who bagged five points of his own. Alice Lloyd would head into the locker-room at intermission nursing a 35-32 lead.

In the second half, the Oaks hung tough, only trailing 44-41 at the 14:13 mark. However, from that juncture, the Caney Creek crew made their move to take control.

Over a nearly ten-minute span, the blue and white tightened the screws on defense, as they held OCU to just three points. At the same time, the Eagles would produce twenty points of their own, By the time the clock hit the 4:38 point, the visitors led 64-44. They would coast from there across the finish line.

For Alice Lloyd (14-15), they were led on the night by Soumahoro, who pumped in a game-high 21 points on 9-15 shooting. He also achieved the big double-double as he ripped down 13 huge rebounds.

He was followed by Tackett who sank 6-10 attempts for 13 points. He added 4 boards. Also, senior guard Jared Strickland chipped in with 9 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.

On the day, the Caney Creek crew shot 45.2% (28-62) from the field, 31.6% (9-19) from beyond arc and 70.6% (12-17) from the charity stripe. A deciding factor in the game was rebounds, as they hauled down 48. They also stole 6 balls and blocked 2 shots.

OCU (7-22) was led by Moore with 14 points. His squad shot 36.4% (24-66) from the field, 28.6% (8-28) beyond the arc and 54.5% (6-11) from the charity stripe. They snared 36 total rebounds and stole 9 balls.

With the victory, the Eagles now advance to the championship game of the NCCAA Mideast Regional Tournament in Oakland City, where they will face the 16-8 Asbury University Eagles at 3:00pm (CST). The squads have split their two matchups this season. A berth in the NCCAA Men's DI National Championship in Winona Lake, Indiana awaits the victor.