By Zach DeMarcus
March 7, 2018
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) #14 Westmont Men's Basketball (24-7will face #20 Dillard University (La.) (20-9) in the first round of the NAIA Division I Men's National Championship next Wednesday. Westmont and Dillard are both in the Liston Bracket – the Warriors are the fourth seed and the Bleu Devils are the fifth seed.
Dillard heralds from the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference. They finished at the top of the GCAC with a 9-3 record in conference. They booked their ticket to the national tournament with a victory over Xavier (La.) in the championship game of the GCAC Tournament.
On the season, the Bleu Devils have five wins over top-25 opponents. They defeated #16 William Carey 108-98 on October 31, #2 Louisiana State-Alexandria 107-101 (OT) on November 20, as well as #25 Xavier on three separate occasions – 70-69 on January 20, 79-65 on February 17, and 86-71 on March 4.
Dillard is led by Jorori Coleman (18.2 ppg.), Joshua Simmons (17.7 ppg.), Patrick Thompson (16.8 ppg.), Kristopher Allmon (16.1 ppg.), and Quinton Jackson(15.8 ppg.). Simmons is averaging a double-double as he is also pulling down 12.1 rebounds per game. Thompson is adding 7.9 boards per game and Jackson is grabbing 6.7.
Dillard, as a team, boasts a few nationally recognized statistics. They are fourth in the country in offensive rebounds with 14.6 and in total rebound margin at 9.8. They are fifth in assists per game with 18.1. Their 43.2 rebounds per game is sixth best and their 89 points per game is 11th best.
Mike Newell is in his third season at the helm of the Bleu Devils program. He has amassed a 62-24 (.744) record as the head coach.
Tip-off is scheduled for 10:00 p.m CDT (8:00 p.m. PDT) on Wednesday, March 14 in Kansas City at the Municipal Auditorium.
The winner of Wednesday night's game will advance to the second round to play the winner of first-seed LSU Shreveport (La.) (27-4) and eighth-seeded Harris-Stowe State (Mo.) (23-10).
The Master's and Hope International are the other two teams representing the Golden State Athletic Conference in the tournament. The Master's (29-2) are the top seed in the Naismith Bracket and will face eighth-seeded Peru State (Neb.) (21-13) on Wednesday at 8:15 p.m. CDT (6:15 p.m. PDT).
Hope International (25-5) was awarded the third seed in the Cramer Bracket. They will go up against sixth-seeded Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) (21-11) on Thursday at 9:15 p.m. CDT (7:15 p.m. PDT).
