A star built for March Madness: Dominique Daniels Jr. leads Cal Baptist to first NCAA Tournament

While many were likely resting their eyes and preparing for the day that is Selection Sunday, the Cal Baptist Lancers punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament late Saturday night with a win over Utah Valley in the WAC Championship. The private university in Riverside, California, with around 12,000 students, will be making its first-ever appearance in March Madness in just its eighth season competing at the Division I level.

The Lancers’ win over Utah Valley on Saturday night came in the fourth meeting between the two teams this season due to the small size of the WAC. In perfect March fashion, the victory came with incredible late-game drama.

Cal Baptist had led for most of the first half, but the Wolverines controlled much of the second. With just under three minutes remaining, the Lancers found themselves down seven before the Dominique Daniels Jr. show began.

The senior point guard stepped up in a massive way, delivering some major onions with three consecutive made three-pointers. The final two were ridiculously gutsy with a step-back three to tie the game and another to give the Lancers a two-point lead with just 17 seconds remaining.

On the other end, it looked like overtime was coming as Utah Valley set up a perfect pick-and-roll action, but a bit of March magic helped seal the win for Cal Baptist as a wide-open alley-oop dunk attempt by the Wolverines rimmed out.

The Lancers have been led all season by Dominique Daniels Jr. who is a top mid-major player and one of the best pure scorers in all of college basketball. Daniels leads all mid-major players in scoring at 23.2 points per game and has scored in double figures in all but one game this season.

He has gone over 40 twice this year, dropping 47 points in Cal Baptist’s second regular-season meeting with Utah Valley and recently going for 41 points on just 23 field goal attempts in the WAC semifinals.

Daniels is also a refreshing story in today’s college basketball landscape. After beginning his career at the JUCO level, he is now in his third season at Cal Baptist. He led the team in scoring in the previous two years as well, averaging just over 19 points per game. Daniels easily could have entered the portal and got a massive pay day while also landing at a more prominent program. Instead, he chose to stay in his home state and continue building what has become a historic season for Cal Baptist, and he is now making a name for himself on one of the biggest stages in college basketball.

The Lancers are led by head coach Rick Croy, who is in his 13th season with the program and has had just one losing season over that time. The former Randy Bennett assistant at Saint Mary's helped build Cal Baptist into a power at the Division II level. After previously competing in the NAIA, Croy led the program to the Division II Tournament in its first season of eligibility in 2014, followed by four more tournament appearances in consecutive years before the school transitioned to Division I.

Games like the one we saw in the WAC Championship with programs like Cal Baptist and players like Dominique Daniels Jr. are exactly what make this time of year so special. The Lancers will now set their sights on the NCAA Tournament, where they will likely be a 13 seed and are a legitimate contender to pull off a first-round upset.