SPRINGFIELD, Mo–The 40th annual Bass Pro Shops Tournament of Champions has entered semifinal Friday.

Branson’s Link Academy is repping the Ozarks in the semifinals.

Springfield’s other two representatives are on the other side of the bracket.

Fox 49’s Chris Pinson is live at Great Southern Bank Arena with our night two report.

Thanks Dan, despite leading by a single point at halftime of Thursday’s opening contest, the Bulldogs ended up losing by 14.

But Friday, Jordan Epps team stayed dialed in the whole game.

With a second chance to prove themselves against one of the nation’s premier teams, Keion Epps and his Bulldog teammates prepared for a war on the floor against the Millennium Tigers.

Early on, Epps was the only source of offense for the bulldogs.

The Drury Panthers commit went a perfect 3 for 3 from the outside in the first quarter.

Generating all nine of Central’s first quarter points,

Millennium’s Cameron Holmes was virtually unstoppable.

Holmes accounted for 18 of the Tigers 35 first half points.

Propelling Millennium to a 74-43 victory.

As for Jack Simpson and the Parkview Vikings, they’re consolation contest came against the Milton Eagles from Georgia.

Vikings led 17-10 with under four to play in the first half, but the Eagles went on an 11-2 run taking a 21-19 edge at the half.

Skipping to the 4th quarter, Parkview trailing by 1, until Carlitos Sanchez finds Ethan Hernandez.

He hits the floater, Vikings up 39-38.

But in the waning seconds of regulation, tied at 46, Grant McDuffie’s prayer clanks around and falls in!

The buzzer beater pushes Milton to a 48-46 victory.

Moving to the winner’s bracket, Link Academy played the first semifinal of the evening.

Going heads up with the Bullis Bulldogs.

The first half was a low-scoring tug of war.

The two teams combined for just 40 points with the Lions leading 25-15, but it was highlighted by this two-handed slam by Chris Cenac jr.

Second half was more of the same, with Link’s length and athleticism allowed them to find various ways to continue adding to their lead, while limiting the Bulldogs ability to score on the other end.

Link wins comfortably 53-36.

Advancing to Saturday night’s championship game.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOLR - OzarksFirst.com.