NAIA NATIONAL BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT UNDER WAY: UPDATES ALL DAY LONG

For people unfamiliar with the NAIA tournament, all the games take place at one venue, in this case at the host school the College of the Ozarks. That’s why the games got started at 9am eastern time, 8am in Missouri. For more fun for pet owners I’ll be keeping track of how many wins for cat nicknames and how many wins for dog nicknames.

GAME 8 – OREGON TECH HUSTLIN’ OWLS 76  CARDINAL STRITCH WOLVES 61   This game was very tight for the overwhelming majority of the playing time, but Tech pulled away late. The Wolves defied all the odds by remaining in the game despite being outrebounded 40-17 and going 0 for 12 from 3 point range.     CAT NICKNAMES: 4-1       DOG NICKNAMES: 0-3    

GAME 7 – OZARKS BOBCATS  66  SIOUX FALLS COUGARS 58    The host institution, the College of the Ozarks, pulled off the upset, outperforming USF in every statistical category except rebounds. Both teams shot poorly from 3-point range, with the Cougars going 2 of 19 and the Bobcats going 2 of 11.     CAT NICKNAMES: 4-1       DOG NICKNAMES: 0-2       

GAME 6 – INDIANA WESLEYAN WILDCATS 95  IUE RED WOLVES 92     This was the new game of the day so far, unseating Game 3. Multiple lead changes and a game that went all the way down to the final tick of the clock were just part of the drama unfolding here. Free throws turned out to be the difference in this matchup, with the Wildcats going 22 of 27 and the Red Wolves just 12 of 21.        CAT NICKNAMES: 3-0       DOG NICKNAMES: 0-2          

GAME 5 – WALSH CAVALIERS 81  UNION (KY) BULLDOGS 59     Walsh is the top-ranked team in the nation and the overall number 1 seed in the tournament so this outcome was expected. This game was more about the Cavs being great than anything else.       CAT NICKNAMES: 2-0       DOG NICKNAMES: 0-2   

GAME 4 – BELLEVUE BRUINS 66  ASHFORD SAINTS 45     The Saints picked the worst time to have a terrible game. They shot just 35 % from the field and 50% from the line. The Saints use a St Bernard as their logo so this unfortunately counts in the dog results.         CAT NICKNAMES: 2-0       DOG NICKNAMES: 0-1 

GAME 3 – ST FRANCIS (IN) COUGARS  87  NORTHWEST (FL) SEAHAWKS 79      This game was close all the way through and is the game of the day so far. Northwest actually had a higher shooting percentage than the Cougars from the field and from the free throw line but St Francis gets the win.      CAT NICKNAMES: 2-0       DOG NICKNAMES: 0-0 

GAME 2 – BLACK HILLS STATE YELLOW JACKETS  85  HOLY NAMES HAWKS 62           This game was all Yellow Jackets from start to finish with the Hawks simply failing to compete. Holy Names shot just 37 % from the field.  This game brought no change to the dog nickname vs cat nickname so we stay at:  CAT NICKNAMES: 1-0       DOG NICKNAMES: 0-0 

GAME 1: DAVENPORT PANTHERS 72  BRIAR CLIFF CHARGERS 68 

The story of the 2nd half of this game was the way the Panthers kept pulling away and the Chargers kept coming back to make the game tight again. It was a 2 point game with 5 seconds left but clutch free throws by the Panthers helped seal the win. 

CAT NICKNAMES: 1-0       DOG NICKNAMES: 0-0