KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Despite trailing for a majority of the first half, the No. 1 seed Lions outlasted the No. 11 seed Southern Oregon University Raiders 69-56 in the quarterfinal of the 2025 NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship Presented by Ballogy to advance to their second straight Fab Four appearance and win the Duer Quadrant of the bracket.
For every shot the Raiders made in the first half the Lions (30-5) answered.
Makai Vassell's 3-pointer at 16:39 gave FHU their first lead of the game, but the Raiders answered with four straight points.
Jordan Stephens would add a jumper and a steal and score in the middle of the half to tie the game 10-10.
Jayson Nixon later connected for a 3-pointer to keep the game tied. The first half featured six ties before
Sam Powell's 3-pointer with 2:25 left in the first half gave FHU the lead they would keep the remainder of the game. Powell would hit two late free throws to end the first half with the Lions leading 27-23.
Peyton Law and Nixon joined forces to star the second half strong before Southern Oregon (23-11) would hit 3-pointers to keep the FHU lead at single digits. That was before
Brian Carter's free throw began a 14-0 run by the Lions lasting from 12:05 to 8:52 with Law dominating the paint by scoring eight points in the span. Law's last jumper at 8:52 gave FHU their largest lead at 21 points. After the Raiders hoped to string points together
Geraldo Lane dropped a 3-pointer to begin a nine-point run for the Lions. FHU would hit free throws late to punch their ticket to the national semifinal with the 69-56 victory.
The Lions shot 42% from the floor in the win. The Raiders went 10-29 from long range while FHU made five 3-pointers. FHU's points in the paint helped FHU to the tune of 38 FHU points to SOU's 16.
Peyton Law was unstoppable with a double-double: scoring 25 points by going 12-15 from the field and grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds.
Jordan Stephens helped the cause with 10 points.
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Up Next
The Lions will take Sunday off to prepare for No. 7 seed Oklahoma Wesleyan University who upset No. 1 seed LSU Alexandria 98-87 in the Liston Quadrant final. The Fab Four matchup will tip off on March 24 at 7:00 p.m. after the conclusion of the other semifinal: No. 1 seeds College of Idaho and Arizona Christian will battle at 5:00 p.m.
