KANSAS CITY – The Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College men's basketball team will continue their historic march thru the Madness of March when they take on No. 7 Grace (Ind.) on Thursday, March 20 at 3 pm (CT) inside the Kansas City Municipal Auditorium in the Round of 16 of the NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship.
The Champions of the Dalton, Ga., NAIA First & Second Rounds event last weekend with wins over No. 18 Dalton State (Ga.) and No. 16 Ave Maria (Fla.) — the Pomeroys are the No. 11 seed in their quadrant of the 64-team national tournament. As one of 16 remaining teams playing, SMWC will take on No. 2 seed Grace in their third game of postseason play.
In the 89-81 win over Ave Maria,
Greg Jenkins set a new career-high with 43 points. He shot 14-of-25 from the field, including 4-of-5 from three-point range, and added 11-of-12 free throws. His performance was a key factor in keeping the Pomeroys ahead throughout the game. Also contributing heavily was
Shon Tupuola, who posted a double-double with 18 points and 20 rebounds, showing his dominance in the paint.
DaMeriz Merriweather added 10 points and contributed with key assists, while
Caleb Iheukwu and
Greg Johnson each chipped in with valuable minutes off the bench.
In the 74-67 victory over host Dalton State, Jenkins led the way with 18 points while Tupuola added 17 points and nine rebounds. SMWC was the only road team in all of the 16 sites nationally to send the home team out of the tournament on the opening night of play. SMWC is one of only five teams to advance to Kansas City that played on the road on the opening weekend of the tournament.
Lost in the shuffle of all the victories over the weekend, this marks the first two nationally-ranked teams that SMWC has ever defeated and just the third across all sports in the Pomeroys' history of competing at the NAIA level.
SMWC captured the program's first-ever outright River States Conference Championship and then went on to win the tournament. The are a school-best 28-5 this season and are making just their second-ever appearance in the Men's Basketball National Championship. Additionally, they have won a national postgame game for the first time in school history and are making their first-ever appearance in Kansas City at the national site.
Kansas City holds a special place in basketball lore for Vigo County as Indiana State University had some of their biggest triumphs on the basketball court at the Municipal Auditorium. In fact, SMWC is the first Vigo County team to win a NAIA National Tournament game since 1963 — also the last year that ISU appeared in this tournament at Municipal Auditorium. SMWC is representing the county on the national stage for the first time in 62 years!
Led by second-year head coach
Jesse McClung, the Pomeroys have amassed 52 victories in his short time at the helm. He was the 2024 River States Conference Coach of the Year and has led the Pomeroys to back-to-back NAIA Men's Basketball Championship appearances as well as their first ever victories on the national stage.
Jenkins is averaging 19.7 points per game and has amassed well over 1,500 career points scored and holds the career record for most points scored as a Pomeroy with 1,015 in just two years of action.
Shon Tupuola averages a double-double with 14.8 ppg and 12.3 rebounds per contest. He owns the school record with 120 career blocked shots in just two seasons of action. Both Jenkins and Tupuola were named to the River States Conference First Team.
Taeron Hogg was an also an all-conference performer with a third team mention. He averages 9.5 points and has connected on 40 3-pointers so far this season.
For those fans that are following SMWC to the Municipal Auditorium, please buy general admission tickets for the Pomeroy games as they move through the tournament. And then join the SMWC fan block in Section 29 at the conclusion of the previous game.
The winner of the game with Grace will play either No. 1 Arizona Christian or No. 4 Cumberlands (Ky.) on Saturday, March 22 at 1 pm (CT). Arizona Christian and Cumberlands will play immediately prior to the Pomeroys on Thursday.
