Type: | NAIA |
Division: | II |
Year: | 2015 |
Teams: | 32 |
Finalfourarena: | Keeter Gymnasium |
Finalfourcity: | Point Lookout, Missouri |
Champions: | Cornerstone Golden Eagles |
Titlecount: | 3rd |
Champgamecount: | 3rd |
Champffcount: | 6th |
Runnerup: | Dakota Wesleyan Tigers |
Gamecount: | 1st |
Runnerffcount: | 1st |
Semifinal1: | Davenport Panthers |
Fabfourcount1: | 2nd |
Semifinal2: | Embry-Riddle Eagles |
Fabfourcount2: | 2nd |
Mvp: | Kyle Steigenga |
Mvpteam: | Cornerstone |
Hustle: | Luke Bamberg |
Hustleschool: | Dakota Wesleyan |
Topscorer: | Jalen Voss |
Topscorerteam: | Dakota Wesleyan |
Points: | 106 |
The 2015 NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball national championship was held in March at Keeter Gymnasium in Point Lookout, Missouri. The 24th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured thirty-two teams playing in a single-elimination format. The championship game was won by Cornerstone University of Grand Rapids, Michigan over Dakota Wesleyan University of Mitchell, South Dakota by a score of 66 to 45.[1]
The 2015 tournament field was announced on March 14 in a live selection show. The field is made up of 23 automatic qualifiers and eight at-large bids and one automatic host bid presented to College of the Ozarks. This tournament field welcomed the return of four out of the last five champions, led by defending champion and top seed Indiana Wesleyan University along with Cardinal Stritch, Cornerstone, and Saint Francis.[2] There were four newcomers to the bracket, Brescia, Northwestern Ohio, Olivet Nazarene and St. Francis of Illinois.
The complete field consists of Ashford, Bellevue, Bethel, Brescia, Briar Cliff, Cal Maritime, Cardinal Stritch, Concordia, Cornerstone, Dakota State, Davenport, Embry-Riddle, Friends, Grace, College of Idaho, Indiana University East, Indiana Wesleyan, Midland, Milligan, Morningside, Mount Mercy, Northwestern Ohio, Olivet Nazarene, College of the Ozarks, Saint Francis, Saint Thomas, Southern Oregon, Tabor, Union, and Warner Pacific.[3]
The fifth ranked Dakota Wesleyan Tigers came back from a twelve point deficit to defeat the College of Idaho Yotes 88-80 and advance to the NAIA championship game.[4] On the other side of the bracket, Davenport hit three free throws in the final six seconds to secure a 79-75 win over defending champion Indiana Wesleyan.[5]
Cornerstone won their third national championship, defeating Dakota Wesleyan 66-45 behind a twenty-four point performance by Ben Lanning.[6]
Name | School |
---|---|
Dominez Burnett* | Davenport |
Bishop Robinson | Davenport |
Trae Bergh | Dakota Wesleyan |
Jalen Voss | Dakota Wesleyan |
Kris Menning | Dakota Wesleyan |
Ben Lanning | Cornerstone |
Travis Wells | Cornerstone |
DeForest Carter | Embry-Riddle |
Cesar Pastrana | Embry-Riddle |
Dalton Barnes | Embry-Riddle |
(minimum 4 games)[13]
Category | Player | School | Tally | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Most points | Jalen Voss | Dakota Wesleyan | 106 | |
Most points per game | Dominez Burnett | Davenport | 21.25 | |
Leading rebounder | Ben Lanning | Cornerstone | 59 | |
Leading rebounder per game | Ben Lanning | Cornerstone | 11.8 | |
Most assists | DeForest Carter | Embry-Riddle | 45 | |
Assists per game | DeForest Carter | Embry-Riddle | 11.25 | |
Assist/Turnover ratio | Martin Tate | Dakota Wesleyan | 5.33 | |
Three-pointers made | Trae Bergh | Dakota Wesleyan | 16 | |
Best overall field goal percentage | Cesar Pastrana | Embry-Riddle | 71.4% (25-35) | |
Best 3-point field goal percentage | Dominez Burnett | Davenport | 77.8% (7-9) | |
Most free throws made | Cesar Pastrana (Tie) | Embry-Riddle | 24 | |
Most free throws made | Kyle Steigenga (Tie) | Cornerstone | 24 | |
Best free throw percentage | Ty Mason | Cornerstone | 92.9% (13-14) | |
Most steals | DeForest Carter | Embry-Riddle | 21 | |
Most steals per game | DeForest Carter | Embry-Riddle | 5.25 | |
Most shots blocked | Ben Lanning | Cornerstone | 7 | |
Most shots blocked per game | Ben Lanning | Cornerstone | 1.4 |
When the NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball All-America Teams, almost all the players were represented at the national tournament, with a few notable exceptions including Lawrence Jackson of Northwestern Ohio, Jordan Nelson of Waldorf, Andre Winston of Southeastern.
NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball All-America Teams
1st Team
Name | School | Hometown |
---|---|---|
Dominez Burnett* | Davenport | Flint, Michigan |
DeForest Carter | Embry-Riddle | Big Cypress, Florida |
Grant Greenberg | Saint Mary | Leavenworth, Kansas |
Johnny Marlin | Indiana Wesleyan | Greenwood, Indiana |
Steve O’Neill | Morningside | Council Bluffs, Iowa |
Matt Schauss | Bethel | Greens Fork, Indiana |
Tony Smit | Cardinal Stritch | Fond du Lac, Wisconsin |
Kyle Steigenga | Cornerstone | Holland, Michigan |
Jalen Voss | Dakota Wesleyan | Worthington, Minnesota |
Josh Wilson | College of Idaho | Los Angeles, California |
2nd Team
Name | School | Hometown |
---|---|---|
Lawrence Jackson | Northwestern, Ohio | Rocky Mount, North Carolina |
Jordan Nelson | Waldorf | Neenah, Wisconsin |
Dondre Osborn | Mount Mercy | Zion, Illinois |
Demetrius Perkins | College of Idaho | Compton, California |
Tobin Reinwald | Lincoln, Nebraska | |
Alex Starkel | Midland | Norfolk, Nebraska |
Zach Steinmetz | Toledo, Ohio | |
Tim Weber | Southern Oregon | Roseburg, Oregon |
Andre Winston | Tacoma, Washington | |
Clay Yeo | Bethel | Bourbon, Indiana |
3rd Team
Name | School | Hometown |
---|---|---|
Brandon Cole | Bryan | Crossville, Tennessee |
Brandon Eley | AIB | Zearing, Iowa |
Austin Fox | Saint Francis (Ind) | Muncie, Indiana |
Ilya Ilyayev | Saint Francis (Ill) | Los Angeles, California |
Aaron Larson | Olivet Nazarene | Tolono, Illinois |
Alex Starkel | Midland | Norfolk, Nebraska |
Ben Lenning | Cornerstone | Grandville, Michigan |
Kris Menning | Dakota Wesleyan | Corsica, South Dakota |
Austin Morris | Brescia | Evansville, Indiana |
Brequan Tucker | Joliet, Illinois | |
Honorable Mention
Name | School | Hometown |
---|---|---|
Bryant Allen | Dakota State | Maplewood, Missouri |
Trey Bardsley | Beatrice, Nebraska | |
Cameron Clark | Southwestern | Lewisville, Texas |
Derek Daniels | College of the Ozarks | Mountain View, Missouri |
Jeremy Comer | Indianapolis, Indiana | |
Nick Frazier | Bellwood, Illinois | |
Warren Hall | Tampa, Florida | |
Logan Irwin | Grace (Ind.) | South Whitley, Indiana |
Deante Johnson | Cincinnati, Ohio | |
Jack Krieger | Saint Xavier (Illinois) | Plainfield, Illinois |
Percy Lemle | Bellevue (Nebraska) | Carson, California |
Gabriel Martinez | Albuquerque, New Mexico | |
Robert Morris (Ill.) | Racine, Wisconsin | |
Fredricus Mattison | Anderson, South Carolina | |
Diamontae McKinley | Ashford (Iowa) | Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
Esvan Middleton | Concordia (Oregon) | Culver City, California |
Cesar Pastrana | Embry-Riddle (Florida) | Cartagena, Colombia |
Nathan Rindels | Dordt (Iowa) | Boulder, Colorado |
Alec Schwab | William Penn (Iowa) | Peru, Illinois |
Trey Scott | Waldorf (Iowa) | Fridley, Minnesota |
Jake Simpson | Louisville, Kentucky | |
Dion Smith | Indianapolis, Ind. | |
Andrew Thomas | Tabor (Kansas) | Grenada |
Eric Thompson | Southern Oregon | Roseburg, Oregon |
Jerah’me Williams | Youngstown, Ohio | |