Winona Lake, IN: The Alice Lloyd College Eagles brought home their share of the hardware from the NCCAA Women/Men’s DI National Championship held in Winona Lake on March 17th-20th.
On the women’s side, the #4 Lady Eagles were crowned 2020-21 NCCAA National Champions and earned the first-place trophy, as well as receiving the Women’s DI National Championship banner.
Individually, guard Haley Hall was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament for her dominating performance over the three games.
In the 85-67 quarter-final victory over #5 Ecclesia (AR), Hall tossed in 26 points, grabbed 7 rebounds, dished off 8 assists, and had 2 steals. She followed up that performance in the 72-69 semi-final upset over #1 Southwestern Christian University (OK), by pumping in 22 points, snaring 7 rebounds, handing off 4 assists, nabbing 3 steals, and even earning 1 block. Then, in the 67-52 championship victory over #2 University of Northwestern (MN), the senior pumped in 29 points, grab 8 boards, and gain 1 assist and 1 steal.
Over the entire tournament, Hall blistered the nets to the tune of 25.6 ppg while shooting 50% from the field (23-46), 57.8% from long range (11-19), and 95.2% from the charity stripe (20-21). She stuffed the stat sheet as she also averaged 7.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 2 steals per night. She was also named to the all-tournament squad.
Forward Madison Thompson was named to the all-tournament team for her solid play. In three games, the freshman averaged 11 big rebounds per contest. In the upset over top-seeded Southwestern Christian University, she came up huge with a double-double of 12 points and 16 rebounds, while adding 3 assists, 1 block, and 1 steal. She then followed that up in the finals with 13 rebounds, 4 points, 2 assists, 2 blocks, and 1 steal.
In addition to their athletic excellence, three Lady Eagles were also named scholar-athletes. These recipients must be juniors academically and maintain a minimum 3.4 GPA. The seniors to achieve this mark were Shelby Davis, Haley Hall, and Ali May.
On the men’s side, the #7 Eagles advanced to the Final Four and played the top three seeds of the entire tournament. Point guard Noah Young was named to the All-Tournament team for his steady play throughout the event. Over three games, the senior averaged 12 points, 4.3 assists, and 4 rebounds per contest while shooting 50% from the field, including 50% from long range.
In the 79-72 quarter-final upset over #2 Columbia International (SC), Young was masterful in controlling the contest. He finished the game with 13 points, grabbed 5 rebounds, and dished off 6 assists. Additionally, despite facing the Rams’ relentless defensive pressure for the entire game, he did not commit a single turnover.
He also looked impressive in the third-place game against top-seeded Grace College. In that contest, the playmaker pumped in 16 points, handed out 6 assists, and snared 5 rebounds.