The Langston Lions mens' basketball team are hoping to cap off a magical season with a win in their first NAIA Championship game against Freed-Hardeman. The Lions have been an impressive story all season. Including NAIA tournament wins, they are 35-1 on the season.

Their lone loss came against Southwestern Assemblies of God University, 72-58. They also technically have another loss to the University of Arkansas at Monticello, but that was an exhibition game. Other than that, they've blown past the majority of their competition in the Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC).

The Lions advanced to the final round of the NAIA Tournament by defeating the College of Idaho Yotes, 58-52. For a team that is used to blowing opponents out of the water, Langston had to really dig in to defeat the Yotes. Both teams remained tied at halftime with 27 points. The game went down to the wire as the scoreboard read “52” for both teams with 44 seconds to play.

The College of Idaho's Drew Wyman had a chance to put his team up 53-52 at the free throw line, but he missed his second attempt. Langston's Jay Allen-Tavor capitalized on the mistake, making a layup to put his team up by a bucket. The Lions immediately got the ball back thanks to a block from Toru Dean and they finished the fast break with another score. The Yotes called a timeout, but with only 11 seconds to play, their chances looked slim. Out of the break, Langston's G'Quavious Lennox stole the ball, sealing the game for Langston and giving them a championship berth.

Cortez Mosley and D'Monte Brown led the way for the Lions with a combined 26 points. Mosley finished with 14 points and four rebounds while Brown had 12 points and two assists, and he knocked down two three-pointers.

Although no one else scored in double figures, all but one player on the team scored at least one point. The Lions also got a boost from long range in the second half. They hit four three-pointers in the second half as opposed to the Yotes' two, giving them a slight advantage.

Langston will have their work cut out for them against fellow #1 seed Freed-Hardeman, but their dominant play all season certainly proves they are up to the challenge. In the SAC, the Lions ranked fourth in points per game and first in points allowed on defense. They also lapped the field in terms of average margin of victory. Langston finished the season with an average margin of victory of 22.3 points.

The next closest team? Southwestern Assemblies at 9.9 points. The gap between Langston and Southwestern Assemblies is as big as the one between Southwestern Assemblies and Texas Wesleyan. Texas Wesleyan ranked sixth in average margin of victory at negative 2.7.