COLUMBIA, S.C. – For the first time in nine years, the Benedict College men's basketball team is headed to the NCAA Division II basketball championship tournament.
"It means so much, not only to Benedict, but to these young men who have been working very hard all season. We started off 13-0, and we struggled here the second semester. But the work we put in the first semester really helped us to get this at-large bid," said Benedict head men's basketball coach Artis Maddox, now in his sixth season at the helm for the Tigers and making his first NCAA post-season appearance.
Benedict, now 23-7 overall, earned the No. 8 seed in the eight-team South Region and will face top-seed and region tournament host Nova Southeastern, 27-2, in the first round on Saturday at 5 p.m. The game will be streamed on the NCAA Champions pass, with a cost of $9.95 per game or $29.95 for all tournament games excluding the national semfinals and finals, which will air on CBS. Click here to purchase access. Live stats will also be available here.
Saturday's winner will advance to take on the winner between No. 4 Alabama-Huntsville and No. 5 Embry-Riddle at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday. The South Region championship game is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday, with the winner advancing to the Division II Elite Eight Tournament in Evansville, Ind.
The Tigers started the season 13-0 and were ranked as high as No. 8 in the national coaches poll in early January.
After reaching the SIAC championship game the past two years, but losing and failing to secure a post-season bid, the Tigers had a preseason goal of winning the 2024 conference title and advancing to the NCAA tournament. Although Benedict was knocked out of the conference tournament in the semifinals to eventual champion Clark Atlanta, the Tigers were still able to receive an at-large post-season bid.
"We set the goal to win a conference and not put our fate in anyone else's hand," Maddox said. "At the end of the day, we did put our fate in somebody else's hands. Nova Southeastern won, and Clark Atlanta won, and that helped us get an at-large bid into the tournament. We're blessed and we're extremely excited for this opportunity."
The Tigers have a high-powered offense of their own. Benedict led the SIAC in scoring average at 84.8 points per game, and topped 90 points or more 13 times during the season, including twice surpassing 100 points.
"The way we try to construct our team, we want to get up and down the court at a fast pace. We don't want to slow the ball down at all," Maddox said. "We have a lot of athleticism, and that's why we try to use our athleticism in transition and get a lot of easy baskets and get a lot of wide open shots."
Benedict has a deep, senior-dominated squad, led by first-team All-SIAC performer Tim Moore. Moore led Benedict in scoring at 15 points per game, and had the highest field-goal percentage in the SIAC at 57.4 percent. Moore was recently named an HBCU All-American by Box To Row. The 6-foot-6 senior forward was also one of 16 players in the country selected to participate in the Dark Horse Dunker campaign, an online fan voting contest to select one player to participate in the slam dunk contest at the NCAA Final Four in Phoenix.
Hometown favorite Asanti Price, the former Keenan High School standout, is Benedict's deep threat. Price averages 13.8 points per game, and ranks eighth in the nation in 3-point attempts per game, tossing up eight 3-point attempts per game, and connecting on better than 35 percent.
Malachi McCoy is another Benedict veteran leader. The native of the Bahamas is now in graduate school with a perfect 4.0 GPA and was a recipient of the SIAC's Elite 14 Award for men's basketball, presented to the student-athlete with the best GPA. He is third on the team in scoring at 11.3 points per game and leads the Tigers with 7.7 rebounds per game. McCoy, who was named the SIAC Preseason Player of the Year prior to the season, is dangerous around the basket and gets a lot of his points on offensive rebound put backs. He connects on better than 61 percent of his shots.
Senior point guard Brandon Beidleman is the floor general, and leads the team in steals. Marshaun West averages double figures and is one of Benedict's top all-around players, averaging 4.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists. Senior Gob Gabriel is a big (6-foot-7) guard with great range. He is the brother of NBA player Wenye Gabriel, who has played with several NBA teams, most notably the Los Angeles Lakers from 2021-23. Brandon Smith is another outside gunner with deadly accuracy. Calvin McCutcheon, another senior, is a key reserve guard off the bench.
The group will be aiming to become the first Benedict men's basketball team since the 2012-13 squad to win a post-season NCAA Tournament game, and have the uphill task of knocking off the nation's No. 1 team in the Nova Southeastern Sharks.
The Sharks are the top-ranked team in Division II, and have the No. 2 scoring offense in the country, averaging 102.5 points per game. The Sharks do it with a tremendous defense that leads the country in forced turnovers, which lead to easy baskets. They rank second in the country in fast-break points.
"I'm ready to accept the challenge," Maddox said. "I know it's a classic David versus Goliath, but we're up for the challenge and we'll just tip it off on Saturday at five and take it from there."
