The University of St.Thomas Men’s Basketball team won the Red River Athletic Conference championship on March 9 against Louisiana State University- Shreveport, advancing to the National Athletic Intercollegiate Association Division I tournament for the second time in program history.
The team entered the tournament as the fourth-ranked seed in RRAC. In the semi-final game, the Celts played against Louisiana State University-Alexandria, the NAIA nationally ranked No. 2- team and number 1 seed.
The Celts beat LSUA 72-73 with a buzzer beater three point shot by senior finance major Keaton Shaw.
“They were the team that we always wanted to beat,” Shaw said. “They are a powerhouse in our conference and in nationals.We hadn’t beaten them in our program history.”
According to Shaw, the Celts went into the game focused and determined.
“We had a good game plan going in, we executed it, and when the clock was winding down we just happened to be in the right spot at the right time,” Shaw said. “Once I made the shot it was all surreal; it was a good moment, everyone was going crazy. At that moment, we knew that we were on a special path.”
The Celts went to the championship game and won against Louisiana State University- Shreveport, the number two seed of the RRAC tournament, with a score of 67-55.
However after advancing, the team was eliminated in the first round of the NAIA national tournament against Carroll College 71-65.
This was the last RRAC championship game for the Celts; this fall, UST will transition to NCAA Division III.
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