California Baptist punches NCAA Tournament ticket as Utah Valley suffers heartbreak

The Utah Valley Wolverines suffered immense heartbreak successful the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) men’s hoops title crippled against California Baptist connected Saturday.

The Wolverines were down 63-61 with astir 10 seconds near to play. Utah Valley ran a play arsenic they inbounded the shot from the sideline. Trevan Leonhardt got the walk and Isac Davis acceptable up the prime and roll. Leonhardt got astir the defender and Davis had a wide-open opportunity.

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Jayden Jackson #3 and Dominique Daniels Jr. #1 of the California Baptist Lancers observe defeating the Wolverines 63-61 successful the title crippled of the Western Athletic Conference men’s hoops tourney astatine the Orleans Arena connected March 14, 2026 successful Las Vegas, Nevada. (Candice Ward/Getty Images)

Davis went up for an alley-oop dunk, but conscionable couldn’t decorativeness it. He sat connected the crushed successful disbelief.

The Lancers won the crippled and earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

California Baptist prima Dominique Daniels Jr. scored 23 points and nailed 2 3-pointers successful the last 2 minutes of the crippled to assistance his squad to the large dance. Bradey Henige had 11 points and Jonathan Griman added 10.

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Dominique Daniels Jr. #1 of the California Baptist Lancers celebrates defeating the Utah Valley Wolverines 63-61 successful the title crippled of the Western Athletic Conference men’s hoops tourney astatine the Orleans Arena connected March 14, 2026 successful Las Vegas, Nevada. (Candice Ward/Getty Images)

It volition beryllium the archetypal tourney berth successful California Baptist men’s hoops history. The schoolhouse transitioned from Division II to Division I successful 2018 and became eligible for the postseason during the 2022-23 season.

Utah Valley saw its seven-game winning streak snap. The schoolhouse is 25-7 wide this play and could precise good beryllium connected the extracurricular looking into the tournament. The Wolverines were the regular play Western Athletic Conference champions.

Dominique Daniels Jr. #1 of the California Baptist Lancers shoots against Isaac Davis #1 of the Utah Valley Wolverines successful the 2nd fractional of the title crippled of the Western Athletic Conference men’s hoops tourney astatine the Orleans Arena connected March 14, 2026 successful Las Vegas, Nevada. (Candice Ward/Getty Images)

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Next season, some teams volition beryllium joining the Big West Conference. The WAC volition rebrand arsenic the United Athletic Conference.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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