Columbia. Mo. – The Stephen's Stars Basketball team encountered a tough defeat in the semifinal of the American Midwest Conference (AMC) Tournament, presented by Tandem HR, falling 88-102 to Williams Baptist College (Ark.). The early exit from the AMC tourney leaves the Stars (22-6 overall & 16-2 AMC) without an automatic bid to the NAIA tournament first round.
In a highly anticipated matchup, the Stars battled Williams Baptist for the third time this season in a bid to secure their spot in the AMC Tournament final. Stephens faced the Eagles at home in January and dominated with a 28-point victory. However, the Williams Baptist team rallied late in the season and beat the Stars by 12 points on February 15th in Arkansas.
The Stars came out cold in the first quarter, and the Eagles racked up a 12-0 lead with quick pace and smothering defense. The Stars trailed the entire first quarter and found themselves down 20 as the period ended.
In the second quarter, the Stars fought to narrow the gap and saw some success as Mia Morel drained crucial back-to-back 3-pointers. However, the Stars struggled to recover from their slow first-quarter start and entered the locker room at half 39-62.
The Stars' crowd showed their support throughout the game, but the Eagles managed to maintain a significant lead, especially during a run in the last minute of the third quarter that widened the gap to 25 points. Marveen Ross and Chu Crockett found their way to the bucket consistently, but the Williams Baptist defense forced turnovers and the Stars guards struggled to find their rhythm.
The Stars seemed to be a new team in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Eagles 28-17. But despite the fierce effort to close the Eagle lead in the final minutes of the game, the Stars fell short, ultimately losing by 14 points (88-102).
Chu Crockett and Marveen Ross both had impressive double-doubles, with Crockett leading the team with 23 points and 13 rebounds, and Ross following closely with 18 points and 10 rebounds. The Stars shot an uncharacteristic 13% from beyond the arc scoring only 6 points, while the Eagles shot 47.4% amassing 27 points.
The Stars will now wait until Thursday, March 7th at 7:00 p.m. CT when the final 64-team field and bracket will be announced on the NAIA YouTube Channel. The NAIA released the 16 first and second-round host sites on February 29th which can be found here. These rounds will be played on March 15th and 16th, with winners from each opening round host site traveling to the NAIA National Championship Final Site in Sioux City, Iowa from March 21st through the 26th.
