The Langston Lions are moving to the Final Four of the NAIA Men’s Basketball Tournament for the first time in school history after a 61-48 win over Indiana Wesleyan.
Langston head coach Chris Wright becomes the first HBCU coach to lead two different programs to the NAIA Final Four (Talladega in 2022).
Cortez Mosley paced the Lions, scoring 15 points and grabbing six rebounds. Anthony Roy followed close behind with 13 points (all in the first half) and five rebounds.
G’Quavious Lennox made an impact on the defensive end snatching four of his team’s 10 steals.
A back-and-forth scoring stretch that spanned nearly three minutes, and included five lead changes, ended with Indiana Wesleyan taking a 22-21 lead with 6:50 remaining in the first half.
FOR THE FIRST TIME IN SCHOOL HISTORY, YOUR LIONS ARE IN THE #NAIAMBB FINAL FOUR! #WeRoar https://t.co/0Il6JmUoip
— Langston University (@LangstonU) March 24, 2024
Langston responded by going on a 16-0 run over the next five minutes before ending the first half with a 37-25 lead. This run was culminated by back-to-back 3-pointers by Roy to give his team the double-digit advantage.
Despite briefly trimming the deficit to single digits in the final five minutes, Indiana Wesleyan never provided any danger to Langston as the lead peaked at 17 points in the second half.
Langston now heads to the Final Four, which consists of all No. 1 seeds. It is the first time this has happened since the NAIA tournament field began its re-seeding in 2016.
The Lions will look to clinch their first-ever NAIA championship berth in school history when they clash with the reigning national champion, College of Idaho on Monday.
