The Get-It-Done kids from OKWU burst into the Final Four
The Oklahoma Wesleyan University men’s basketball team huddles prior to an earlier season game. The Eagles are in the NAIA Final Four after downing Louisiana Alexandria, 98-87 on Saturday.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
Oklahoma Wesleyan University’s Derrick Talton (3) blocks out during an earlier season game. The Eagles are in the NAIA Final Four after downing Louisiana Alexandria, 98-87 on Saturday.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
By Mike Tupa
March 23, 2025
BARTLESVILLE AREA SPORTS REPORT
Fate, thy dominion is the brave at heart,
thy conquerors know the warriors’ art,
no faint of spirit bear thy final sway
faith, grit, love, endurance, open the way.
- MJT
By all measurable factors, Oklahoma Wesleyan University has no business playing the NAIA men’s basketball Final Four.
The Eagles (27-7) entered the 64-team tournament as a No. 7 regional (quadrant) seed — meaning they were rated somewhere between No. 28 to No. 32 in the tourney.
On top of that, they were ranked only No. 23 in the country in the most recent NAIA national poll.
If that weren’t enough, failed to win their conference postseason tournament and they had to beat the No. 2 seed in their quadrant in order to get to the Sweet 16, and then had to take down national championship contender and No. 1 seed Louisiana State University Alexandria in Saturday’s Elite 8, played in Kansas City, Mo.
Mission accomplished!
OKWU has earned its first trip to the Final Four — which begins Monday in Kansas City — for the first time since 2010.
LSU Alexandria never had a chance against the high-flying Eagles, who swooped to a 98-87 victory late Saturday evening.
“Instead of saying ‘no way’ we were saying ‘Yahweh’ (pronounced ya way),” in expressing faith in Jesus Christ, OKWU head coach Donnie Bostwick said. “Everybody was dialed in tonight … When it was time we were ready to go.”
The game wasn’t as “close’ as the final score indicates. OKWU led by 26 points, 82-56, with only 7:12 left. LSU Alexandria made a spirited rally, outscoring OKWU, 31-16, in the final seven minutes. But, the Louisiana men never got back within single digits.
Senior forward Jaden Lietzke put together his best outing of the postseason — 31 points, 13 boards, three assists and three blocks — to fuel the OKWU Eagles’ explosive performance.
“Jaden was a beast tonight,” Bostwick said, adding that Lietzke’s fierce play down low forced LSU Alexandria to change up its defense and allowed other Eagles to get open.
Nick Bene also added a double-double (15 points, 16 rebounds) and senior guard Derrick Talton Jr. dialed up 13 points, six assists, three rebounds and four steals.
Temaje Izuagbe sprang off the bench to score nine points in just seven minutes. Rounding out OKWU’s other top scorers were Yashi McKenzie, seven points; Issac Stanek, six points, Jaden Wilson, six points; and Dylan Phillip, five points.
“Yashi totally dominated their All-American on defense,” Bostwick added. “We just took them out of their stuff. When we got that big early lead (29-10 in the first 12 minutes) I think they kind of panicked.”
Bostwick said he felt prior to the game the main keys would be how his Eagles would handle the defensive pressure, keep LSU Alexandria off the boards and challenge their shots.
It turned out to be a winning recipe.
Bostwick eventually went deep into his bench to get 15 players on the floor.
The Eagles’ scoring statistics didn’t exactly glitter — 33-of-68 on field goals, 6-of-14 on 3-pointers and 26-of-40 on free throws. But they dominated on the boards with 54 and scored 48 points in the paint, 19 points off turnovers and 18 second chance points.
OKWU’s defense, meanwhile, limited LSU Alexandria to just 36 percent field goal shooting (26-of-73) and only 7-of-27 from beyond the arc.
Jordan Decuir tallied 26 points and six rebounds for LSU Alexandria, followed by Jakemin Abney with 19 points.
The Eagles will be back Monday evening in the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City for a 7 p.m. tip-off against defending national champion Freed-Hardeman University (Tenn.).
That’s the only team that stands between the Eagles and getting to the national final (NAIA-II) for the first time since 2009, when they won it all.
Freed-Hardeman presents some tough challenges, including their size, physicality and a couple of “really talented guys” back from last year’s team, Bostwick said.
But the Eagles have proven they have the right stuff, the chemistry and the scrappy determination to rise to the task.
Perhaps Shakespeare said it best:
“Once more into the breach, dear friends, once more.
… Then imitate the action of the tiger.”