Life University Running Eagles Men’s basketball captures first tournament championship

Four Running Eagles finished with double-digit points. MSC Player of the Year Dalarian Williams followed up his historic 43-point game on Saturday with a team- leading 21 points, all coming in the second half. First Team All-MSC junior Zach Landis put up 15 points, five rebounds, six assists and three steals. Second Team All- MSC senior Jonathan Beausejour posted 14 points, five rebounds, an assist and a block. Junior Ivan Benkovich contributed 12 points, as well as five rebounds.

With Williams only playing two minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, Landis and Beausejour more than picked up the slack in the opening 20 minutes of the championship bout. Using a 12-2 run in the final 3:34 of the half, Life U took a 41-30 lead into the half.

The Running Eagles continued to ride that momentum in the second half, building a 21-point lead with more than 12 minutes left in the game. Pikeville managed to trim the lead to 13 points, but Life U had one final 16-4 run in them to close out the game and clinch the victory by a 78-63 final.

With the win, Running Eagles captured the MSC’s automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament at historic Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. They will find out where they are seeded and who they will play in the opening round on Wednesday, March 8 at 9:00 p.m.