Minneapolis, MN – (5) North Central University and (6) Crown College each earned semifinal victories to make it an all-Minneapolis final for the second time in the last three years at the NCCAA Division II Men’s Basketball National Championship. Tomorrow’s National Championship game is set to take place at 4 p.m. CT. The game has been moved up from the originally scheduled 6 p.m. CT start due to inclement weather in the Minneapolis area. Follow all the tournament action here.

Semifinal One: #5 North Central University – 96 #1 Spurgeon College - 81

• Top-Seeded Spurgeon looked for revenge against (5) North Central in a rematch of last year’s national championship game to open the 2026 NCCAA Division II Men’s Basketball semifinals. After the Knights scored the first four points of the game, North Central would find their press break to score nine of the next 11 to open things. Carrington McNeal led the way for the Rams with four quick points. 
• Jack Effertz would hit his second three of the game for North Central with 15:05 to play in the first half to give the Rams a 14-10 lead going into the first timeout. 
• Spurgeon would dominate the glass with six offensive rebounds in the first nine minutes of play, allowing Jack Chamberlin to get a second chance bucket to put the Knights back in front 19-18. 
• North Central would find their way through the press and use their pace to find easy hoops toward the end of the first half. The Rams would go on a 6-0 run powered by Carrington McNeal to go up 34-26 and force Spurgeon into a timeout. 
• At the half, North Central led 44-35 behind a combined 21 points from Carrington and Carmelo McNeal. Spurgeon saw some early foul trouble with both Jack Chamberlin and Bohden Duffield entering the locker room with three fouls. 
• Spurgeon’s foul trouble forced five second unit players to be in at the same time early in the second half. This unit performed well though, hitting a pair of threes to stay within striking distance of the Rams. 
• North Central responded with a 12-0 run to get out to their largest lead of the game of 18 with just under 10 minutes to play. Everything was clicking for the Rams as Josh Hoffman added a massive block on the defensive end to help North Central to a 70-52 advantage. 
• The Rams would hit their free throws and survive a late surge from the Knights to win 96-81 and advance to the NCCAA Division II Men’s Basketball National Championship game with a chance to defend their title. 

Semifinal Two: #6 Crown College – 84 #7 Bob Jones University - 72

• Bob Jones got off to an outstanding start in the second semifinal holding Crown scoreless for the first three minutes of play. Trevor Pittman added a pair of threes to give the Bruins an 8-0 early lead. 
• Crown quickly responded with an 8-0 run of their own to tie the game. Anthony Knight hit a circus and-one to conclude the run. 
• After the hot start offensively, the two sides would go nearly three minutes scoreless with the game tied at 13. Crown would later take the lead on a Donavan Washington layup to make it 15-13. The offenses then picked up again as Anthony Knight then hit a three that would give the Polars their largest lead of the game at six, 31-25. 
• The trio of Anthony Knight, Parker Behne, and Tristan Youngblood would continue Crown’s end of half surge powering the team to a 16-4 run that forced the Bruins into a timeout. At halftime the Polars held a 39-29 lead behind 32 combined points from the Crown trio. 
• The Bob Jones offense started to pick up early in the second half. Justin Skelton started to find the range and Shad Vander Hart would hit a huge and-one bucket to cut the deficit to three with 14:32 to play. 
• Donovan Washington would respond with eight straight points for Crown to instantly put the Polars back on top by 10, 54-44. 
• The Bruins refused to quit, storming back to take the lead at the seven-minute mark after a pair of threes from Brandon Wilkins. Bob Jones took a timeout leading 61-60. The lead would not last long after the timeout, as Crown’s Colby Deluce would hit a three at the shot clock expiration to put the Polars back up by two. 
• Anthony Knight would hit clutch shots down the stretch for yet another 20+ point game to help Crown prevent another Bruin comeback. Crown earned the 84-72 victory to earn a rematch of the 2024 NCCAA Division II Men’s Basketball National Championship game against North Central tomorrow at 4 p.m. CT. 

Consolation Game Two: #8 Faith Baptist Bible College – 92 #4 Champion Christian College - 83

• The first consolation game of the day started with a pair of runs. Faith Baptist Bible went on an 8-2 run to open the game before Champion Christian responded with a 10-0 run to go in front 12-8. 
• The runs continued as Faith Baptist Bible responded with a 16-0 run of their own, highlighted by a Landon Brahs fast break bucket off Mason Gorsh’s seventh assist of the game to give the Eagles a 42-32 edge. Champion Christian would cut the deficit to five at the half, 43-38. 
• The game of runs continued early in the second half. Champion Christian scored the first nine of the period to regain the lead 47-43. Landon Brahs would later go on an 8-0 run of his own to give the Eagles the lead right back. Champion Christian called timeout with 14:18 to play trailing 57-51. 
• Faith Baptist Bible would not relinquish the lead the remainder of the game, ending their season with a 92-83 victory. Mason Gorsh recorded an unorthodox double-double with 10 rebounds and 10 assists in the win, and Landon Brahs led the team with 17 points. 

Consolation Game Three: #3 Manhattan Christian College – 85 #2 Great Lakes Christian College - 75

• Great Lakes Christian would get off to an outstanding start from the mid-range, scoring five of their first seven from the field to take a 10-4 lead over Manhattan Christian. 
• Manhattan Christian would get off to a slow start shooting but use the free throw line to spark a 13-0 run to put them in front for the first time 17-10 with just under 14 minutes to play in the first half. 
• With just under 10 minutes to play in the first half, Manhattan Christian’s Jaxon Hurla hit a three to break the program record for a single season with 100. Hurla and the Thunder continued to dominate the first half to take a 42-34 lead into the break. 
• Manhattan Christian would battle shooting woes all game long but did enough on the defensive end to maintain their lead throughout. The balanced offense that saw 11 players score led the Thunder to a 85-75 consolation game victory over Great Lakes Christian. 

About the NCCAA
Established in 1968, the National Christian College Athletic Association uses intercollegiate athletics to further the Great Commission and is committed to equipping student-athletes and coaches to make a positive impact for Christ. The NCCAA currently holds 23 national championship events, along with one national invitational for 88 member schools across 28 states and two Canadian provinces. For more information on the NCCAA, visit our website, thenccaa.org, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter/X, and Instagram at @thenccaa.