The Langston Lions began their road to a NAIA Men’s Basketball Tournament championship, overcoming adversity to beat Bethel (TN) 73-65 to advance to the second round.
Langston keeps its record in NAIA tournament opening-round games under head coach Chris Wright, having advanced to at least the Round of 16 in each of its appearances.
Orlando Thomas guided the Lions’ offense with a team-high 22 points on 60% shooting, knocking down four three-pointers.
Trey Clarke also had the hot hand from three-point range, hitting three of his four attempts on his way to 15 points.
Langston controlled the contest for the majority of the first half, leading by as many as 11 points in the period.
However, a cold spell as the half came to a close, going without a field goal for nearly the final four minutes, allowed Bethel to trim the deficit to five and go into the half trailing by seven.
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Langston overcomes slow second-half start
The Lions’ cold shooting persisted to begin the second half, missing their first three shots to allow Bethel within four points, followed by another that brought it to a one-possession game.
That being said, Langston continued to find an answer for any scoring run thrown at them, never relinquishing the lead on its way to victory.
Langston is now the last remaining team in the NAIA tournament, with the remaining eight men’s and women’s basketball teams losing their respective opening-round contests.
They will now look forward to a second-round matchup against the 12-seed Eastern Oregon, which upset the 5-seed LSU Alexandria in an 89-78 overtime win.
