Seattle, SFA, NMSU Crowned Champs on Final Day of Regular Season
For Seattle, Stephen, F. Austin, and New Mexico State, the goal was simple. Get a win in the regular season finale and be crowned regular season champions.
Mission Accomplished!
All three schools won in various ways to earn a share of the 2021-22 WAC regular season championship.
Big 3 Propel Redhawks to a Title
In an afternoon matinee at the Redhawk Center, Seattle U’s big 3 came through in a big way.
Cameron Tyson hit four 3-pointers in the second half and Seattle held off pesky Chicago State, 74-66 to earn a share of the regular season crown.
Riley Grigsby finished with 22 points and Darrion Trammell had 20. Tyson finished with 18 points. It is the first-ever regular season title for the Redhawks. And it comes after a wild start to the 2021-22 season. Former head coach Jim Hayford stepped down three days before the season started due to a racial comment. And associate head coach Chris Victor became the interim head coach.
All Victor has done is lead the Redhawks to a 23-8 overall record, 14-4 WAC record and a share of the regular season title. Plus, the Redhawks enter WAC Vegas as the 2-seed, which means a bye to the semifinals.
Grigsby, Trammell and Tyson combined for 60 points and we clinched the @WACsports regular season title!
đź“° https://t.co/UdNVIOX6Ad#TogetherWeSoar pic.twitter.com/21xtaXje7E
— Seattle U Men’s Basketball (@seattleumbb) March 6, 2022
Kensmil, SFA Roll to Regular Season Crown
After pulling an upset in Las Cruces on Wednesday night in its ninth straight win, SFA was one win away from a regular season title. And Gavin Kensmil made sure that a title was coming back to Nacogdoches. Kensmil finished with 33 points and nine rebounds as SFA rolled to a 93-63 win over UTRGV in Edinburgh on Saturday night.
Calvin Solomon, Latrell Jossell and Day Day Hall were also in double figures in the 10th-straight win for the Lumberjacks. SFA shot 56 percent from the field and Kensmil was a perfect 13-13 from the field tonight.
SFA goes into WAC Vegas as the 3-seed and will play on Thursday at the Orleans Arena.
WHAT. A. NIGHT. @gavin_gkd
Gavin was a perfect 13-for-13 from the field tonight tying a SCHOOL RECORD for FG percentage – the most makes with a perfect shooting percentage in school history!#PressU x #AxeEm x #RaiseTheAxe pic.twitter.com/lU35zGQsWB
— SFA Men’s Basketball (@SFA_MBB) March 6, 2022
McCant Gets Championship, Fiancé
Johnny McCant is going to go down as a New Mexico State legend. He is the only Aggie player to win four regular season championships. McCants has over 1,000-career points and 700-plus rebounds. And now, Johnny McCants has a fiancé.
McCants had 11 points and 13 rebounds as New Mexico State beat Utah Valley, 62-46, on Saturday night to clinch a share of the regular season crown and the 1-seed for WAC Vegas.
Playing in his final home game in his hometown, McCants was all over the place. And in the process, was part of a defensive effort that held Fardaws Aimaq to fewer than 10 points for the first time all season. Aimaq finished with 8 points and 9 rebounds.
And, right after he was honored after the game on Senior Night, McCants decided to pop the question.
What’s better than winning the @WACsports regular-season title?
Getting engaged đź’Ť@mccantsjohnny23 popped the question and @jusstsamanthaa said YES! #AggieUp pic.twitter.com/EOwI1Xv6Rn
— NM State MBB (@NMStateMBB) March 6, 2022
New Mexico State will be the 1-seed one year after not playing a game in front of its fans at the Pan American Center.