South Decatur grad to play for national title Tuesday

(KANSAS CITY) – A South Decatur graduate will play for a national championship on Tuesday night. 

Lane Lauderbaugh plays for top-ranked Freed Hardeman University in Tennessee.

He led the team with 22 points last night as they beat Benedictine-Mesa (Arizona) to advance to the NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship.

Freed Hardeman has won their past 31 games and will compete for a national title for the second time in three years.

Lauderbaugh is a key part of the team and has been named player of the game twice recently. The former Cougar standout previously played for IU Southeast and was one of the top scorers in the conference last year.

Freed-Hardeman will face Langston (Oklahoma) at 7 p.m. tonight which is a rematch of the 2024 national championship game. You can watch it by clicking here.