Emory University Regional Website   |   Post-Game Interview

ATLANTA, GA. – Sophomore Nate West would nearly record his second triple-double of the season and junior Christian Seidl would score 11 of his 16 points in the second half as the LeTourneau University men's basketball team would defeat Hanover College by a score of 85-77 in the first round of the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship at the Woodruff PE Center on the campus of Emory University on Friday, March 2nd.
 
The win extends LETU's current school-record for single-season wins as the YellowJackets improve to 24-4 overall. It also marks the first-ever NCAA Tournament win for the LETU men's basketball team and only the second-ever NCAA Tournament victory of any kind for the 17-sport athletic department (2014 Baseball). Hanover College sees their season come to a close at 22-7 overall after being unable to match last year's Elite Eight run. The 85 total points would be the third-most points that the Panthers gave up up all-year, holding a 1-2 overall record when allowing the opponent to score 80 or more points.  
 
"I'm very proud of our guys for battling tonight, and it took a full 40 minutes to beat a great team in Hanover" said head coach Dan Miller. "What we say every night is that you need to star in your role and each and every player's role is different." "Tonight I thought everyone played their role to the fullest extent and helped us find a way to win."
 
Overall, the YellowJackets would shoot 52.6 percent (30-of-57) from the field and connect on 13-of-23 three's (56.5 percent) in the game. West had a team-high 25 points and nine rebounds to go along with eight rebounds in 38 minutes of work while Seidl added 16 of LETU's 24 bench points. Junior Caleb Loggins added 12 points to go along with three assists, four blocks, and four rebounds, while Colhoff would connect on two triples and add three assists while finishing with 10 points. The Panthers would be led by a game-high 30 points from guard Cam Fails and get 18 points and eight rebounds from Jostens Trophy Finalist Wes McKinney.
 
"Coming back from an early deficit is nothing we haven't done before and we know that we are a battle-tested team" said West when asked about coming back from an early 10-0 hole to start the game. "We have a never give up mentality and to keep going because we know that we can score a lot of points so we have to be aggressive and keep it up" added Seidl.
 
Hanover opened up the game on a 10-0 run, using their experience from last year's NCAA Tournament run to stun the YellowJackets and force a timeout just 1:57 into the game. The quick spurt by the Panthers would not affect LeTourneau, rattling off nine straight points to pull back within one before seeing a layup by Logan Ratts put the score at 12-9 with 15:20 left in the first half. LETU would continue to play at rampant pace, locking down on defense and looking for transition points which would lead to the 9-2 run becoming a 23-4 run that would put the YellowJackets on top by a score of 23-14 with 8:38 left before halftime.
 
A battle-tested Hanover squad came right back to pull within three on a Fails triple with 3:29 left before intermission to put the score at 37-34 as LeTourneau would not get their lead any higher than six in the final minutes. The Panthers would get as close as two points at 44-42 with 46 seconds left in the first half, but give up a pair of free throws to Loggins to make the score 46-42 at the break.
 
The first half box score would be about as tight as you could get between two teams, with both LETU and HC scoring 22 points in the paint and the YellowJackets holding a 13-12 advantage in bench points. Each team would hit five triples in the first half with LETU grabbing 19 of the 36 rebounds in the half.
 
LeTourneau would give Hanover a taste of their own medicine to open up the second half, scoring the first seven points to push their four-point lead to 11 at 57-46, but see the Panthers come right back to tie the game at 61-61 with 11:43 left in the game. A 14-2 run capped off by a Seidl four-point play would give LETU their largest lead of the night at 75-63 with 7:27 left in the game as the YellowJackets would threaten to run away with the game.
 
Another run by Hanover saw the Panthers score 11 straight points to put the score at 75-74 with 5:10 left in the game, but it would Seidl again playing the role of hero by connecting on another four-point play to give LeTourneau some breathing room. Following a missed three by Fails for Hanover, West would come down and connect on a triple to put the lead at eight with 1:34 left in the game, as the YellowJackets would allow just three more points while connecting on three of four free throws to extend their season.
 
LeTourneau will play the winner of No. 6-ranked Emory College and Berry College on Saturday, March 3rd at 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT) in the Emory University Regional Title game. The winner will move on to next weekend's NCAA Sectional Rounds, with a host site to be determined at a later date. If the YellowJackets face off against the Host Eagles, they will be doing so against a team that will be 22-4 overall and has won at least one NCAA Tournament games in the past six years. Should Berry pull the upset against Emory, the Vikings will continue their run as Cinderella, earning their first-ever NCAA Tournament win and move on with a 12-17 overall record.