Oakwood University Wins USCAA National Men’s Basketball Championship

by Adventist Today News Team

The Oakwood University Ambassadors men’s basketball team bested the Rochester College Warriors in the national Division I championship tournament of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) last Saturday night. Except for dedicated sports page readers, this win was largely ignored due to the more prominent “March Madness” events of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
 
This is the second time that the Oakwood team has won this national championship. Those who have seen the came have told Adventist Today that it was a spectacular example of why basketball is fun to watch. The game was fast and the points close. Oakwood student Austin Doggette won it for his team at the last minute, sinking a long shot. The final score was 54 to 51 and Doggette was given the MVP honors for the tournament.
 
Oakwood went into the game without much indication that it could win. It was seventh-seeded and Rochester was seeded number one. The game began late because the Oakwood team refused to play until after the end of the Sabbath at sundown.
 
“We lost to a very good team,” Rochester coach Klint Pleasants was quoted by sports writer Dan Strickradt on North Oakland Sports, a web sports news publisher. “But that’s basketball, a game sometimes decided by a play or two.”
 
USCAA Division I sports involve smaller colleges and universities than the NCAA. A number of Seventh-day Adventist colleges and universities participate in this and other leagues despite historic denominational positions against competitive sports.