Kansas City, Mo. - For the first time in program history, the OUAZ Spirit basketball team has advanced to the "Fab Four" of the the NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship after beating Montana Tech 76-58 inside Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City. The Spirit, now 25-9 on the year, will play tournament top-seed College of Idaho (34-1 overall) in the national semifinal on Friday (March 17) at 5 pm (CT). 

Against MTU in the quarterfinals, OUAZ was led by senior forward Josiah De'laCerda's 20 points, eight boards and three blocked shots, while senior guard, Kolten Hitt continued his strong postseason with 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor, including 2-of-5 three's. The Spirit held a 30-29 lead at halftime thanks to De'laCerda's 13 points and defense that held Montana Tech to 0-for-9 shooting from three-point range.  For the game, OUAZ shot 46.8% from the field (50.0% in the second half), but more importantly kept Montana Tech to just 31.7% from the field and 19% from three-point range.

The Spirit, who joined fellow Golden State Athletic Conference schools Arizona Christian, Westmont and Hope International in the tournament field, is now the only one standing after ACU loss to Indiana Tech.

Against The Yotes
This will be the second meeting of the year (fourth overall) with the College of Idaho. The two teams squared off in Glendale in early November with the Yotes pulling out a 83-72 win to grab a series advantage 2-1.