NEED TO KNOW:
Score: Life U 93, Johnson 82
Records: Life U, 26-6; Johnson, 20-7

MARION, Ind. – The No. 4 seed Life University men's basketball team advanced to the Second Round of the 2025 NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament early Friday afternoon, taking down No. 13 seed Johnson by double digits. Junior guard Chaze Harris was electric as always, dropping 23 points in the contest while racking up the assists with 12. Behind his offensive pressure, four other Running Eagles reached double figures on the offensive end of the floor.

The Royals of Johnson got off to a hot start, opening the contest on a 7-2 run. However, the Life U offense went to work in the paint, rallying for four straight buckets, including an emphatic jam from Harris in transition. Srdjan Popovich and Matija Gledic connected from beyond the arch shortly after as the Running Eagles answered with 9-0 run of their own to take command of the contest.

Controlling the pace of play, the offense continued to hammer away at the Royals defense, stretching the lead to double digits by the midway point of the first half. Things continued to click for Life U as the contest teetered on a blowout. A pair of free throws from Dara Olonade in the final second of the half pushed the lead to 20 as the Running Eagles enjoyed a 54-34 lead. Olonade led all scorers in the first half with 14 points, shooting an impressive 6-7 from the floor. Harris nearly completed his double-double in the first half, scoring 12 points and recording 9 assists.

The defense locked down the Royals from the floor as the visitors shot just 28.9% in the half. On the opposite end, Life U shot an impressive 55.3% from the floor and nearly 50% from three point land. 

Out of the break, the lead remained near 20 for the majority of the opening minutes as the intermission did little to slow down the red hot offense. Though Johnson showed signs of life, a deep three ball from Elias Ramirez gave Life U its biggest lead of the contest at 82-57 with just 08:59 to play.

Things got interesting in the final nine minutes as the Royals went on a 14-2 run, closing the lead to just 11 with 04:41 to play. The 11 point deficit was as close as Johnson would get as the Running Eagles stopped the bleeding and secured a 93-82 win. Though they fell short, Johnson posted much better numbers in the second half, including shooting 64.5% from the floor. Similar to the first half, Life U shot 56% from the floor. 

 

A win worthy of celebration🤩@LifeUMBB | @NAIA pic.twitter.com/f7GCIql5YZ

— Life Running Eagles (@LifeUAthletics) March 14, 2025

The No. 4 seed Running Eagles advance to face No. 5 seed and host Indiana Wesleyan tomorrow at 3 p.m.

 

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TURNING POINT:
--The Running Eagles closed the first half with all the momentum and a 20-point lead.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
--Chaze Harris led all scorers with 23 points in the contest. He also posted a double-double which included 12 assists.
--Dara Olonade, Ladarron Cleveland, Tyreke Johnson and Srdjan Popovich all reached double figures.
--Cortez Johnson was active on the glass, recording a team-high seven rebounds.

Find all the information on the 2025 NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament here.