Dubuque, IA - The Crown College Polars Men's Basketball team faced off with the North Central University Rams and came out on top 61-60.

Crown jumped out to an early lead in the first seven minutes going up 9-5. North Central knocked down a couple of buckets before the Polars offense started to click. Buckets from five different Polars pushed Crown out in front by seventeen points with the score at 29-12 with five minutes to play in the half. A late run by the North Central offense cut the Crown lead to ten as the half would end with the score settling at 33-23, Crown holding the lead.

The second half saw Crown hold their slim lead throughout the half. North Central took their first lead of the second half 55-54 with just over four minutes to play. Two made shots from the Rams and a few missed shots from Crown gave the Rams a 4 point lead with 2:34 to go. A layup by Micah Ladd and a three point bucket from Jacob Masek gave Crown a 1 point lead. North Central had possession with 7 seconds remaining and the final shot from the Rams didn't fall giving Crown the 61-60 win.

Micah Ladd led the scoring for Crown scoring a season high 21 points. Jacob Masek scored 11 points and Carter Behne scored 10 points. Seth Royston totaled 9 reboudns to lead the boards and Cade Carroll closely followed with 8 rebounds. The Polars shot 40.7% from the field going 24-59 and 33.3% from three point range going 6-18.

The Crown Men move to 18-10 on the season and clinched the #3 seed at the NCCAA national tournament in Joplin, MO. The Polars will face the #6 seed Ozark Christian College at 8pm on Wednesday, March 8th.

For more information on the NCCAA National Championship Tournament: 2023 DII Men's Basketball National Championship Teams Announced - National Christian College Athletic Association (thenccaa.org)