By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
The Thomas More University women’s basketball team made it back to the NAIA national championship game, but two missed shots in the final seconds of overtime prevented the men’s team from a getting a title shot.
In the semifinals of the NAIA national championship tournaments on Monday, the TMU women defeated Central Methodist of Missouri, 82-62, and the TMU men lost to Talladega of Alabama, 78-77, in overtime.
In the men’s game at Kansas City, the Saints were down by one point with 25 seconds left in overtime and couldn’t get the winning basket on their final possession. After Ryan Batte missed a jump shot, Noah Pack got the rebound and missed a stick-back attempt.
When that game ended, the Thomas More women had a 10-point halftime lead in their semifinal game at Sioux City, Iowa. They were ahead by 21 points at the end of the third quarter and maintained a comfortable lead through out the fourth quarter.
That lopsided victory put the Saints (31-4) in the women’s championship game against Dordt University of Iowa (29-8) at 8 p.m. (ET) on Tuesday.
Last year, Thomas More lost to Westmont University of California, 72-61, in the NAIA women’s championship game. If the Saints win their season finale on Tuesday, they’ll add a championship banner to the ones they already have for winning NCAA Division III national titles in 2016 and 2019.
This was the first time a Thomas More men’s team made it to the 16-team championship bracket in the NAIA playoffs and they won two of three games in finish the season with a 31-5 record.
Talladega led for most of the game on Monday. The Tornadoes ran off eight straight points to go up, 23-12, midway through the first half and went on a 9-2 run that put them ahead, 37-21, with 1:47 left before halftime.
Thomas More was able to reduce the margin to 39-27 before the break, but the Saints’ inconsistency on offense was evident in the halftime stats. At that point, they were shooting 40 percent (10 of 25) from the field compared to Talladega’s 65 percent (17 of 26).
Thomas More got off to a good start in the second half and pulled to within four points, 48-44, on a 3-point goal by Wyatt Vieth with 12:15 remaining. Less than five minutes later, Batte was fouled attempting a 3-point shot and made three free throws to trim the margin to 53-52.
Talladega responded with an 11-2 run to take a 64-54 lead, but the Saints battled back and tied it, 68-68, on a pair of free throws by Jacob Jones at the end of regulation.
The Tornadoes made two 3-point goals to jump ahead, 78-75, in overtime. A pair of free throws by Pack made it a one-point game, but the Saints were unable to score on their final possession.
Thomas More ended up shooting 43 percent (26 of 60) from the field. The Saints’ leading scorers were Batte with 33 points and Pack with 18. Talladega shot 58 percent (31 of 53) and had three double-figure scorers led by Cam Potts with 16.
The TMU women shot 50 percent (30 of 60) from the field compared to Central Methodist’s 32 percent (22 of 67) in their semifinal game. The leading scorer for the Saints was forward Alexah Chrisman with 18 points, followed by Kelly Brenner and Taylor Clos with 14 each.
Alex Smith snagged a team-high six rebounds for TMU. Zoie Barth had seven points, six assists and five rebounds.