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Carolina, Spartanburg Methodist to Play for 2025 CAC Men’s Basketball Championship Title
Posted: Mar 01, 2025

Carolina, Spartanburg Methodist to Play for 2025 CAC Men’s Basketball Championship Title

Lower seeded teams continued finding success in the 2025 Continental Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Championship Tournament with No. 6 seed Spartanburg Methodist College (South Carolina) and No. 8 seed Carolina University (North Carolina) collecting victories in Saturday's semifinal games at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas.

Carolina opened the action-packed day with a 74-61 win against No. 5 seed Northern New Mexico College. Then, Spartanburg Methodist secured its spot in the title game with a convincing 93-76 victory against No. 2 seed Arkansas Baptist College.

Carolina and Spartanburg Methodist, which are both making their postseason debuts in the NAIA and CAC, will play for the championship on Sunday, March 2, at 7 p.m. The winner advances to the NAIA national tournament.

Only one higher seeded team has won through six CAC tournament games.

 

Semifinal No. 1: No. 8 Carolina University 74, No. 5 Northern New Mexico College 61

Carolina University (North Carolina) continued its magical run through the CAC tournament with a 74-61 victory against Northern New Mexico College on Saturday afternoon.

The Bruins received a pair of 20-plus scoring performances, led by Aundree Polk's double-double performance of 22 points and 10 rebounds. He also added seven assists in the victory. Chris High added 20 points and made five 3-point field goals.

Carolina closed the first half strong, outscoring the Eagles 12-6 over the final 4:23 to take a 32-27 halftime lead.

High drained a 3-point field goal to give the Bruins a 44-38 lead at the 14:32 mark.

Northern New Mexico got within two points, at 54-52, after Nigel Quaynor made a dunk midway through the second half. However, Carolina scored the next 11 points to take a 65-52 lead after Polk made a layup with 5:46 remaining.

Davon Cottle chipped in 13 points for the Bruins.

 

Semifinal No. 2: No. 6 Spartanburg Methodist College 93, No. 2 Arkansas Baptist College 76

Spartanburg Methodist College (South Carolina) drained 12 3-pointers while making 58.9% of its total field goals in advancing to the championship game behind a 93-76 victory against Arkansas Baptist College on Saturday evening.

Bryan Bayonne, the 2024-25 CAC Player of the Year, made seven of the team's 12 shots from behind the 3-point arc while scoring 31 points.

Richard Rojas and Tavarez Lacey each scored 12 points, while DeAnthony Ross came off the bench to score 10 points for the Pioneers.

SMC built a 45-35 halftime advantage and scored 48 second-half points to seal the victory. The team shot 62.1% overall from the floor in the opening 20 minutes.

Arkansas Baptist was paced by Nate Braden with 20 points and Ryan Gordan scored 13 points. Nick Moye and Deavon Bankston each chipped in 11 points.