POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. - CIU men's basketball opened play at the NCCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship with a thrashing of Justice University (Ariz.) in the tournament quarterfinal. The No. 1 seeded Rams defeated the No. 8 seeded Lions 94-65 behind the hot hands of JJ Vaughan and Will Kelly. The backcourt duo went a combined 10-for-17 from beyond the arc. CIU moves to 21-7 overall.

The Rams only led 22-16 at the 11:35 mark in the first half but would break open the game thanks to five first-half threes from Kelly. A 17-6 run capped by a Brandon Hunt score put the Rams 39-22 with 5:20 remaining in the half. A Kelly triple, seconds before the halftime buzzer, helped the Rams carry a 51-36 advantage into the break.

Vaughan got going in the second half as the route was on. The Ram's largest lead of the game came off a Vaughan jumper (89-56) with 5:33 left and the Rams up 33 points. Every player dressed for CIU would see the floor in the final minutes as CIU cruised to the quarterfinal victory.

Kelly led all scorers with 22 points, while Vuaghan knocked down four threes on his way to 18. Johnny Whysong tallied 16 points and seven rebounds, while Christian Howard scored 10 points to round out CIU's double-digit scorers.

The Rams had ten different players record a point while shooting 50% from the field.

Up Next: The Rams will play the winner of Hannibal-Lagrange (Mo.) and Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) in the tournament semifinals on Thursday, Mar. 20, at 7:00 p.m. CT