Celts stop at NAIA tourney on way to Division III status
In its final year competing on the NAIA level, St. Thomas University qualified for the national men’s basketball tournament in style.
The Celts knocked off the country’s No. 2-ranked team (LSU-Alexandria) on a buzzer-beater in the conference tournament semifinals and secured its spot among the 32 teams at nationals by beating LSUShreveport in the championship game.
Next season, St. Thomas begins transitioning to NCAA Division III. Its current focus is a first-round matchup at 12:30 p.m. Thursday against Carroll (Mont.) at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.
“It’s a big opportunity,” said Celts forward Orowo Eleyae, a first-team All-Red River Athletic Conference selection who averaged 16.4 points. “It’s been a long journey from our freshmen year to now. A lot of people have stepped up.”
St. Thomas (23-10) is the sixth seed in its region and the Fighting Saints are seeded No. 3. Both 22th-ranked St. Thomas and 11th-ranked Carroll (25-7) play a similar style of basketball. They both like to play up tempo and the Celts are a volume 3-point shooting team.
Juniors and seniors dominate the roster of fourthyear Celts coach Anthony Medina. While the Celts made an impressive run in Longview at the RRAC tournament, beating LSU-Alexandria 73-72 when Keaton Shaw (Mont Belvieu) buried a 3-pointer as time expired, and gained a berth in Kansas City after downing LSUShreveport 67-55 in the RRAC championship game, the early portion of the road in Medina’s initial season was bumpy.
Three seasons ago, the Celts were 10-16, making this year’s accomplishment that much sweeter.
“It’s incredible from where we started four years ago to where we are now,” said Sam “3 and D” Flores, whose role is shooting 3–pointers and playing defense. “Our record was terrible and now we’ve built a program. It’s an unbelievable opportunity, I’m excited.”
St. Thomas finished the 2018-19 RRAC schedule 11-7 and entered the conference tournament as the fourth seed. This is the Celts’ first 20-win season in five years and they are making their third appearance in the NAIA national tournament (2013, 2014), seeking their first win.
What makes St. Thomas’ success unique is that they are winning with homegrown talent. Of its 18 players, 14 are from the Houston area.
“There’s not a college roster in the country that has more Houston kids on it,” Medina said. “We take a ton of pride in recruiting the city, trying to find a kid that is overlooked or not as appreciated as we think they should be. Helping them find a home with us and build a reputation.”
A good example are twins Kennard Robinson (5-9) and Lennard Robinson (5-10), who helped Sam Houston High School reach the state tournament in Class 6A in 2016.
“How did they slip through the cracks?” Medina asked. “Houston is a big city, but they were at the forefront of Houston (high school) basketball that whole year. We’re lucky to have them.”
Except for an inch difference in height, the main contrast between the two junior guards is personality and demeanor. Both are solid defensively, push the ball up court quickly, and can facilitate the ball. Lennard is calmer. Kennard is more aggressive, his intensity gives him an edge that’s tough to match.
Kennard was the MVP of the RRAC tournament and honorable mention all-conference after averaging 8.8 points and 5.8 assists on the season. Paris Marquez, who averaged 13.0 points, made second team AllRRAC.
The Celts are experienced team as four of their five starters – upperclassmen Eleyae (Elsik), Marquez (Atascocita), Kennard Robinson and Paul Taulton (Dawson) — have started 91 games together. The fifth starter is freshman guard Cameron Gims (Cy-Fair).
“I love that they have been together for so long,” Medina said. “They’ve been through so many tough games and close ones. Early in our time, we lost a lot of those games. These guys are so easy to coach, we’re always on the same page.
“The connection I have with these guys is a good one because we’ve been in so many situations so many times.”