March 18, 2009

Kansas City, Mo. - William Jewell College (Mo.) survived a 3-point attempt by Rogers State University's (Okla.) Aldric Reynolds with no time remaining to upset the top-seeded Hillcats 76-73 in the sixth game of the 2009 Buffalo Funds NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at Municipal Auditorium Wednesday evening.

The Cardinals are just the second team in the tournament's history to upset a number one seed in the first round, with the other being Dillard (La.) defeating Houston Baptist (Texas) in 2003. The loss snaps the Hillcats' 17-game winning streak.

William Jewell was in control early and led 20-14 after an offensive put back by Jacques Wilson with 8:41 remaining in the half. However, Rogers State answered with a 14-0 run to go up 28-20 before the Cardinals whittled that deficit to 35-33 at the break.

The Hillcats went up by as many eight points (41-33) early in the second half before a seven-point run by William Jewell cut the margin to 41-40 with 17:09 remaining in the game. Rogers State kept its lead between two and seven points throughout the second half until William Jewell finally captured its first lead of the half, 70-68, on a 3-point basket by Jonathan Benson with 2:22 remaining in the game. Rogers State tied the game on two free throws by Chris Francis with 2:06 left to play, but the Cardinals answered with two free throws from Benson and the Cardinals never trailed again.

Benson led five William Jewell players in double figures with 23 points. Larry Mandacina added 16 points while Kyle Fisher finished with 15 points. Wilson and Jordan Jamestown netted 11 points each with Jamestown adding eight rebounds and eight assists.

The Hillcats were paced by Sylvester Spicer with 18 points. Roderick Rodgers and Spencer Schrupp contributed 14 and 10 points, respectively, off the bench.

William Jewell, now 23-10, advances to play in Friday's second round at 12:30 p.m. CDT against the winner of the Cumberland University (Tenn.) and Auburn University-Montgomery (Ala.) contest. Rogers State finishes its campaign with a 30-2 overall record.

GAME NOTES

William Jewell's Jonathan Benson had his eighth 20-point game of the season, including 17 in the second half ... Rogers State was playing in its first-ever national tournament game, while William Jewell was playing in its first since 1988 after moving up to the Division I level this season ... William Jewell improved to 8-5 all-time in the NAIA Division I Tournament .