Langston, Okla. – The top two seeds held after the semifinals of the 2025 Sooner Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Championship as No. 1 seed Nelson and No. 2 seed Langston survived and advanced to the title game that will be played at the C.F. Gayles Fieldhouse in Langston, Okla., on Tuesday evening.
 
No. 1 Nelson 83, No. 4 Wayland Baptist 77
 
In the first semifinal, which saw five ties and 12 lead changes, the top-seeded Lions scored the final four points to secure an 83-77 victory over No. 4-seeded Wayland Baptist on Monday evening.
 
The Pioneers got on track early, holding a 28-19 lead with 8:56 remaining in the half. However, the Lions’ offense started to click, and they outscored Wayland Baptist 27-18 over the final span of the first half, tying the teams at 46-46.
 
The teams went back and forth in the second half as Brett Leach gave the Pioneers their final lead of the night at 71-70 with 4:13 left in regulation. JJ Bolling put the Lions ahead for good as he buried a triple to put the score at 73-71, while CJ Hall added to the advantage with a lay-in at the 3:19 mark to put the score at 75-71. Leach got Wayland Baptist to within two with 39 seconds remaining at 79-77, but Micah Clark scored on a lay-up and Hall hit a pair of free throws to give the Lions the victory.
 
Hall led the way for the Lions with 21 points and a team-high five assists, while Clark added 10 markers. Jordan Jenkins poured in 12 points and grabbed seven boards as Nelson improved to 23-7 on the year.
 
Leach paced the Pioneers with 23 points and six rebounds, while Quenton Coleman and Kabina Kaba chipped in with 14 points each as Wayland Baptist wrapped up the season with a mark of 17-13.
 
No. 2 Langston 76, No. 3 Mid-America Christian 71
 
In a game that saw many runs by both teams, the No. 2 seeded Lions made the final push over the final 3:57 of the contest to earn a hard-fought 76-71 victory over No. 3 seed Mid-America Christian in the final semifinal of the night.
 
Langston got their offense going early as they raced out to a 22-9 advantage after Bryce Monroe hit the three-pointer at the 11:22 mark of the first half. After that initial burst, the Evangels took control of the remainder of the half as they outscored Langston 29-9 to take a 38-31 lead into the break.
 
The two squads went back and forth until Mid-America Christian pushed ahead by a score of 50-43 after Magok Manyang buried a pair of free throws. The Lions returned the favor with a 9-2 run of their own to tie the contest at 52-52 on a Kamron Brice triple with 10:18 left in the second half. Langston maintained the lead throughout the remainder of the game, but not after the Evangels cut the deficit to under two points 10 times over the final 10 minutes of the contest.
 
Monroe led three Lions on double figures with 26 points and a team-high five assists, while Amoro Lado added a career-high 21 points with Brice chipping in with 18 markers to help the Lions improve to 23-7. The victory was also Head Coach Chris Wright’s 300^th victory as a head coach.
 
The Evangels were paced by Juwan White with 18 points while Josiah Fulcher chipped in with 16 markers and Keeshawn Mason poured in 13 points for Mid-America Christian, who ended the season with a record of 22-8.
 
The championship contest will begin on Tuesday at 8 p.m. as Nelson will try and avenge a pair of regular season losses to the Langston. The Lions won the first game of the series on the road by a score of 64-63 and then took the win on their home court by a score of 70-61.