Courtesy of Nwacsports.com

The NWAC's leading scorer wasn't enough to challenge the 1-seed Lane Titans. South MVP Tarik Cool lead the way for Lane scoring 15 points and grabbing 6 rebounds. Freshman Center Cody Mathis contributed 15 to go with a few showtime dunks. Wenatchee guard Malik Parsons struggled to get easy looks against Lane's tenacious defense but still finished with an impressive 38 points on 60% shooting.

During a sluggish first half, both teams were having trouble finishing at the rim as seven minutes went by before a Lazjon Bonds 3-pointer got Lane to 12 points. Cool and Bonds helped ignite the Lane offense with a series of transition looks at the rim. Lane played unselfishly to a fault at times but was able to secure a 45-31 lead going into the half.

The second half was no kinder to Wenatchee than the first. Freshman Nick Hopkins battled hard inside for 16 points and 13 rebounds. Lane saw the lead grow to 23 before Wenatchee made their push to cut it to 9 with 2 minutes to go. The Knights drained several late game 3's (Parsons with 4) to make it interesting but proved to be too little too late.

Lucas Wilson's late game put-back jam helped seal the victory for Lane by a final score of 95-87. Despite early foul trouble, Wilson had 12 points and 8 rebounds. Lane will move on to face Green River in the Elite 8 tomorrow at 3 pm.