March 18, 2009

Kansas City, Mo. – Central Methodist University (Mo.) shot a blistering 65 percent from the field in the second half to eliminate fourth-seeded Georgetown College (Ky.) 73-64 in the first round of the 2009 Buffalo Funds NAIA Division I Men’s National Basketball Tournament at Municipal Auditorium Wednesday afternoon.

The Eagles and Tigers both shot lights out in the second half with CMU making 13 of its 20 field goal attempts and Georgetown draining 15 of its 26 shot attempts for 57.7 percent. The difference was at the foul line where the Eagles made 16 second half free throws to the Tigers’ three. Central Methodist outscored Georgetown 26-5 overall from the charity stripe.

Tied at 27 at the intermission, the game stayed close through the early portion of the second half and was still knotted at 43 with 12:18 to play. However, CMU went on a 12-4 run over the next five minutes of play to take a 55-47 lead with 8:24 left. Georgetown went on a mini four-point run to cut the deficit to four, but that was as close as the Tigers would get as CMU built its biggest lead to 13 on a free throw by Matt Sherman with 1:09 left in the game.

Sherman paced the Eagle attack with 22 points, making five 3-point field goals and draining seven of 10 free throws. Brock Edris added 16 points while Jeff Blauvelt led CMU with five rebounds and eight assists. The Eagles forced Georgetown into 23 turnovers.

Demetrius Guions led two Tigers in double figures with 21 points on nine of 15 shooting from the field. Maurice Pearson added 11 points before fouling out with 7:33 to play in the game. The Tigers finished the game shooting 46.4 percent from the field.

Central Methodist improves to 28-6 overall and advances to the second round on Friday where it will face Rocky Mountain (Mont.) College at 2:15 p.m. CDT. Rocky Mountain knocked Freed-Hardeman out of the tournament with a 78-77 overtime victory on Wednesday morning. Georgetown completes its season with a 27-5 record.