The Langston Lions used a second-half scoring burst to secure a 91-61 win over Ave Marie, advancing to the Round of 16 of the NAIA Men’s Basketball tournament.
This marks the second year in a row the Lions’ men’s basketball team has advanced past the second round of the tournament.
Anthony Roy led the way for the Lions, scoring a game-high 23 points.
D’Monte Brown put in a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double off the bench while Toru Dean filled the stat sheet with 10 points, seven rebounds, and four assists.
❗️ MUNI BOUND ❗️
No. 1 @LangstonLionMBB 91
No. 9 Ave Maria 61That Langston Defense got locked in in the 2H to punch their ticket to Kansas City! @LangstonSports pic.twitter.com/DUj2RZx9N7
— NAIA Hoops Report (@NAIAHoopsReport) March 17, 2024
In a hotly contested first half that saw Ave Marie lead 25-16 with 9:31 remaining, Langston went on a 23-7 run over the next eight minutes to take a halftime lead.
After a brief back-and-forth period to begin the second half, Langston put their foot on the gas in the final 10 minutes, outscoring Ave Marie 31-10 for the win.
In addition to shooting the ball more efficiently in the second half (56% in the second half compared to 44% in the first half), Langston also took good care of the ball only turning it over five times.
They also did a good job capitalizing off Ave Marie’s 12 turnovers scoring 19 points while preventing them from scoring on any of their turnovers.
Langston will have an opportunity to secure a spot in the Elite Eight when they face the Duer Quadrant’s 12-seed LSU Shreveport.
