The Georgetown College men’s basketball team will enter next week’s NAIA National Tournament with a No. 1 seed.
The Tigers will head to Kansas City, Missouri on Wednesday, opening up play with Rocky Mountain (Montana) at 4:45 p.m. Georgetown is one of four Mid-South Conference teams in the 32-team tournament. Pikeville, Cumberlands and Campbellsville are also in the tournament.
Georgetown earned a No. 1 seed and is currently ranked No. 1 in the country after winning the Mid-South Conference Tournament last week in Pikeville. Fleming County graduate Troy Steward is the leading scorer for the Tigers, averaging 18.3 points per game. Steward shined in the Mid-South Conference Championship, a 104-75 win over Life in which Steward scored 26 points, knocking down seven 3-pointers in the first half. Georgetown enters the tournament with a 28-4 record.
Pikeville, led by former Mason County coach Kelly Wells, is a No. 4 seed on the opposite side of the bracket. They’ll begin play on Thursday at 9 a.m. against the No. 5 seed, Talladega (Alabama). Pikeville enters with a 23-8 record.
SHAWNEE STATE, THOMAS MORE MOVE ON
The Shawnee State and Thomas More women’s basketball teams are moving on in their respective tournaments.
Shawnee State opened up their NAIA Tournament run with a 65-57 victory over Rocky Mountain College on Thursday. Bracken County gradute Bailey Cummins had 11 points and four assists in the victory. The Bears move on to the Sweet 16 and face Clarke on Friday night, a game that ended pass press time.
Thomas More is in the Final Four and improved their record to 31-0 with an 87-72 victory over Washington (Mo.) on March 9. Mason County graduate Briana McNutt had six points and three assists in the victory. The Saints won on Friday 69-56 over Scranton to advance to the Division III National Championship. Thomas More will play Bowdoin in Saturday’s title game. Stats on the game were not available at press time.
GEORGETOWN, PIKEVILLE FALL
Georgetown women’s basketball turnaround season came to an end in the first round of the NAIA tournament with a 89-69 loss to Montana Western. Fleming County grad Martina Lytle had four points and four rebounds in her last game as a Tiger, Mason County grad Whitney O’Mara had two points and a rebound in the final contest. Georgetown finished the season at 21-11.
Pikeville also faltered in the first rounf of NAIA tournament play with a 58-45 loss to Carroll College. Pikeville’s season ends with a 20-12 record.
