KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The College of Idaho is back in the NAIA men's national championship game thanks to the help of a collection of players from Montana.
Seniors Drew Wyman of Great Falls High and Caden Handran of Scobey, junior Alex Germer of Missoula Sentinel and sophomore Dougie Peoples of Butte Central contributed to C of I's 72-45 victory Monday over Arizona Christian in the Fab Four at historic Municipal Auditorium, sending the Yotes into the championship game.
M🏀@YoteAthletics is headed to the #NAIAMBB Championship game tomorrow evening at 7 p.m. and head coach Colby Blaine spoke about the team effort in their win and ever requested more of Yotes Nation shows up tomorrow!
— NAIA (@NAIA) March 25, 2025
Hear what he had to say about it!#BattleForTheRedBanner pic.twitter.com/uZxEq7uugB
College of Idaho, under head coach Colby Blaine, is now 34-2 overall and on a 24-game winning streak. It is chasing its second national title in the past three seasons.
The Yotes, the No. 1 seed from the tournament's Naismith quadrant, will play Oklahoma Wesleyan (28-7) for the championship on Tuesday at 6 p.m. Mountain time. OWU, the No. 7 seed from the Liston quadrant, knocked off defending champ Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) 84-78 in Monday's other semifinal.
For C of I, baskets by Wyman helped the team jump out to leads of 9-0 and 18-2 within the game's first seven minutes and the Yotes were off to the races. Wyman finished with 10 points and three rebounds. He shot 5 for 12 from the floor.
Peoples had seven points, including a 3-pointer, while Handran added two points and six rebounds. Germer didn't score.
Samaje Morgan led the Yotes with 14 points. Tyler Robinett finished with a double double of 10 points and 10 rebounds.
In addition to Monday's win, C of I has so far won tournament games against California Merced, Friends (Kan.), Langston (Okla.) and Georgetown (Ky.) on the road to the title game.
