KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Indiana University East’s Kyle Pipenger, a Tri-Village alumnus, was one of four players picked for the 2017 NABC-NAIA Shoot & Slam 3-point contest.
The 3-point festivities take place March 18 and are in conjunction with the 80th annual Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I men’s basketball national championship at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City.
All National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Division I and Division II men’s basketball players with senior eligibility status were eligible to be nominated for the contests. Contestants were selected by the National Association of Basketball Coaches-NAIA men’s basketball all-star committee, which is comprised of head coaches from both the Division I and Division II ranks. Criteria taken into account were season statistics, awards and a champions-of-character aspect.
Pipenger and the three other contestants will participate in the first round with the goal of making as many 3-point shots as possible in 60 seconds. Similar to the NBA 3-point contest, five racks with five balls each will be stationed around the arc. The two players with the highest score from the first round advance to the final round. The contestant with the highest final round score will be the winner.
“I think it’s a great opportunity and an honor to get to participate in the 3-point contest,” Pipenger said. “I love traveling to different places that I’ve never been to before, and whenever I get an opportunity to step out on the court one more time and have fun competing against some of the best in the NAIA, I’m really going to enjoy it.”
Pipenger is averaging 12.7 points per game for the 12th-ranked Red Wolves, who completed the regular season with a 23-7 record and the River States Conference East Division title.
Pipenger started this week second in the nation with a .511 3-point field goal percentage.
Pipenger and the Red Wolves host Brescia University on Wednesday in the opening round of the River States Conference tournament.
To learn more about the 2017 NABC-NAIA Shoot & Slam, visit http://www.naia.org/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=27900&ATCLID=211490792.
