No. 2 seed Cal Baptist beat top-seeded Utah Valley 63-61 to win the final Western Athletic Conference tournament after the Wolverines’ Isaac Davis missed a potential tying alley-oop dunk with three seconds left.
Cal Baptist (25-8) will make its first NCAA tournament appearance in program history. The Lancers began the transition from Division II in 2018 and became eligible for the postseason in 2022-23. They have won six games in a row to extend their program record (D-I era) for single-season victories.
“This group of players, it was on full display tonight,” Cal Baptist coach Rick Croy said. “Their belief in each other, it means everything to them to represent CBU and do it in a positive way.”
Utah Valley (25-8), which has won back-to-back conference regular-season titles and four of the past six, had its seven-game winning streak snapped.
Dominique Daniels Jr., who finished with 23 points on 7-of-25 shooting, hit back-to-back 3s that tied it at 60 with 1:16 to play. Utah Valley’s Jackson Holcombe grabbed an offensive rebound, was fouled and made 1 of 2 free throws with 39 seconds left, but Daniel hit a pull-up 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down to give Cal Baptist a two-point lead with 14.6 seconds remaining before Utah Valley’s ill-fated alley-oop try.
“I’m really proud of our guys,” Utah Valley coach Todd Phillips said. “They battled all night and put themselves in a position to win the game. It’s tough when it comes down to one play like that, but our guys showed a lot of heart and toughness.”
Said Daniels: “Anything can happen in March, that’s what I kept telling myself those last three possessions.”
Holcombe led the Wolverines with 18 points, and Davis scored 12. Trevan Leonhardt had 10 rebounds and eight assists to go with six points while consistently harassing Daniels defensively.
Bradey Henige had 11 points for the Lancers, and Jonathan Griman had 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting before he fouled out with about 5½ minutes left.
Utah Valley won the regular-season series 2-1 with both wins coming on its home floor. Daniels had a program-record 47 points in Cal Baptist’s 78-71 home win on Jan. 24.
Both programs are joining the Big West Conference beginning next season, when the WAC will rebrand as the United Athletic Conference.
“We had a chance there late and just couldn’t get it to fall,” Phillips said. “Our guys fought back from an early deficit and competed the whole night. It’s a tough one, but this group has done a lot to be proud of this season.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
