NAIA MEN'S BASKETBALL NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Kansas City, Mo. | Municipal Auditorium
Friday's Game (Round of 16)
1 p.m. PDT – (11) Southern Oregon vs. (7) Keiser (Fla.)
LIVE STREAM | LIVE STATS | BRACKET

Where to Watch: Fans can watch the tournament free of charge for the first time this year by registering an email address at NAIANetwork.com. Watch parties will also be held in Ashland at SOU's Rogue River Room and Oak Tree Northwest Bar & Grill.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A few months removed from a 0-4 start in the Cascade Conference, Southern Oregon is the most unlikely team still alive in the NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship.

As the tournament shifts to Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo., the No. 11-seeded Raiders (22-10) will also be part of the most unlikely Round of 16 matchup when they face No. 7 seed and Sun Conference champion Keiser (Fla.) (26-5) at 1 p.m. PDT Friday. It's the only game featuring two teams that pulled off second-round upsets, though the Seahawks got to stay home for theirs. Both squads were formerly NAIA Division II affiliates and are at the final site in Kansas City for the first time since the two divisions combined and the bracket expanded to 64 teams three years ago.

IF THEY ADVANCE: The first four Round of 16 games will be held Thursday starting at 11 a.m. PDT. The SOU-Keiser winner will move on to face the winner of Friday's 11 a.m. PDT game between No. 1 seed Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) (28-5) – the defending national champion – and No. 4 seed Life (Ga.) (27-6) in the Duer Quadrant final at 3 p.m. PDT Saturday for a spot in the Fab Four. The semifinal on SOU's side of the bracket is set for 5 p.m. PDT Monday, and the championship is at 5 p.m. PDT Tuesday. While Freed-Hardeman is the favorite to advance, it lost three of its top-four scorers from last season and had to rally to win a two-point game in the second round.

HOW THEY GOT HERE: The Raiders, considered a bubble team before receiving an at-large bid, stunned No. 6 seed and Frontier champion Montana Tech by taking a 22-point lead in the first round, ultimately holding on for an 84-81 victory. They did it in large part by going 12-of-22 from 3 – Gabe Reichle went 4-of-5 downtown on his way to a game-high 21 points – and 18-of-23 at the line. A night later, they knocked off No. 3-seeded host The Master's (Calif.), 76-71, in a game that saw six ties and five lead changes in the last six minutes alone. After trailing by as many as 13, Elijah Jackson supplied the final go-ahead bucket for the Raiders with 37 seconds left before stripping All-American Kaleb Lowery on the other end.

The Seahawks – who were the lowest-seeded team to host in the first two rounds – started with a 90-75 defeat of Faulkner (Ala.) behind Vincent Miszkiewicz's 29 points, 13 rebounds and seven blocked shots. Miszkiewicz was limited to six field-goal attempts the next day against No. 2 seed William Woods (Mo.), but Tyreon Payne stepped up with 25 points off the bench and, with the score tied near the four-minute mark, came up with three straight buckets down the stretch to deliver a 78-72 win.

TOURNEY TRIVIA:

• All four No. 1 seeds are still alive. Last year was the first time since 1972 that four No. 1 seeds advanced to the semifinals, though the quarterfinals featured a No. 14 seed and a No. 15 seed. The lowest-seeded team to make the Fab Four since the NAIA's two divisions merged three years ago was No. 7 Ottawa (Ariz.) in 2023.
• This is SOU's 11th national tournament appearance overall and second under third-year head coach Matt Zosel. The Raiders made quarterfinal appearances in the 32-team NAIA Division II Tournament in 2005 and 2015, but they've never before won three consecutive tourney games.
• The Cascade Conference is one of three conferences with multiple representatives at the final site. College of Idaho, the No. 1 overall seed, is the other CCC team in attendance. Lewis-Clark State is the only other CCC team that has advanced since the tournament took on its current form. Devastatingly, Oregon Tech has fallen just short in the second round three of the last four seasons.
• Higher seeds went 27-5 in the first round and 11-5 in the second.

(11) SOUTHERN OREGON (22-10)
Ashland, Ore. | Cascade Conference (14-8, 4th)
Head Coach: Matt Zosel, 3rd season (59-34)
Final NAIA Top 25: Not ranked
Off. Rating: 21st (114 pts./100 poss. / Def. Rating: 73rd (101 pts./100 poss.) / Net Rating: 32nd (+14)
1st Round: SOU 84, (6) Montana Tech 81
2nd Round: SOU 76, (3) The Master's (Calif.) 71

• A significant leap from All-CCC junior guard Elijah Jackson (15.2 points, 49% FG) is the biggest reason the Raiders are here. Over his last month of play, Jackson averaged 21.2 points while shooting 58% from the field and 45% on 3-pointers; he was averaging 12.8 points when the stretch began. He has scored in double figures 11 consecutive games and had previously never done so in more than five in a row.
• Bryce Dyer (11.1 points, 9.6 rebounds), SOU's All-CCC sophomore forward, scored a team-high 19 against The Master's and is pulling down 11.5 rebounds per postseason game. He is the eighth player in team history, and first in 12 years, to collect over 300 rebounds in a season (308). The North Medford product is averaging 3.8 boards on the offensive glass alone.
• In 12 games since the start of February, junior forward Joe Juhala is posting 12.2 points, shooting 59% from the field and 50% from 3 (19-of-38). He scored 12 in each of the first two tournament games, and Khalil Chatman provided an additional lift inside with 12 rebounds and three blocks.
• Mason Whittaker is 11-of-25 from 3 in postseason play, now hitting at a 39% clip on the season. After making the dagger 3 against Montana Tech, he scored 12 of his 16 in the second half against The Master's – all while SOU was trailing.
• After missing four games due to an arm injury, Gabe Reichle returned ahead of schedule last week to give the Raiders a major boost. The graduate transfer from Wilsonville – a few days after having a hard cast removed – made his first six shots and finished 7-of-8 with 21 points against Montana Tech, then delivered some critical playmaking against The Master's while totaling six points and two steals. Reichle is averaging 10.5 points and shooting 36% from 3.
• It's worth remembering that redshirt-freshman Brady Rice – who played one minute in the first two rounds combined – likely saved SOU's season a few weeks ago. In place of the injured Reichle, he recorded 10 points and four assists during SOU's game-closing 34-14 run in an 80-70 CCC Tournament quarterfinal win over Eastern Oregon. A loss almost certainly would have kept SOU out of the national field.
• The Raiders have allowed one opponent all season to hit 10 3-pointers in a game. They've hit at least 10 of their own in 16 different games and are outscoring opponents beyond the arc by an average of 12.5 points.

(7) KEISER (26-5)
West Palm Beach, Fla. | Sun Conference (14-2, 1st)
Head Coach: Marcus "Chief" Bryant, 5th season (93-54)
Final NAIA Top 25: No. 19
Off. Rating: 26th (113 pts./100 poss.) / Def. Rating: 13th (91 pts./100 poss.) / Net Rating: 6th (+22)
1st Round: Keiser 90, (10) Faulkner (Ala.) 75
2nd Round: Keiser 78, (2) William Woods (Mo.) 72

• SOU can expect to see speed in the backcourt, formidable size inside and aggressive defense everywhere. Keiser's lineup is built around first-team All-American Vincent Miszkiewicz, a 6-foot-8 grad forward who transferred prior to last season from NCAA Division I school Wisconsin-Milwaukee. At 14.6 points, 13.6 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game, his numbers are slightly down compared to last season but his efficiency is up at 59% from the field.
• The ball will be primarily in the hands of Calvin Sirmans (15.5 points, 6.4 assists, 2.2 steals), a lightning-quick 5-8 point guard. He, Miszkiewicz and Tyreon Payne (12.3 points) account for nearly half of the Seahawks' total shots and 60% of their assists.
• The Seahawks have given up an average of 62.6 points in their wins and 85.6 in their losses. They've won 12 of their last 13 games – the lone loss in that stretch a 96-87 decision at home against 14-16 Southeastern (Fla.) in the semifinals of the Sun Tournament.
• Keiser was a regular in the NAIA DII Tournament, making 11 appearances between 2007-20. Last year, Oregon Tech eliminated the Seahawks in a 102-94 overtime first-round affair.