March 19, 2009

Kansas City, Mo. - MidAmerica Nazarene University (Kan.) made 16 of 20 free throws over the final two minutes of regulation to upend Azusa Pacific University (Calif.) 78-72 during first round action of the 2009 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division Men's Basketball Tournament at Municipal Auditorium Thursday night.

The Pioneers trailed 36-30 at the intermission despite shooting 48.3 percent from field. Cal Kiburz tallied 12 of his 19 points in the opening half. Meanwhile, Azusa Pacific connected on 48.1 percent of its shots and outscored MidAmerica Nazarene 10-6 over the final 5:31 of the period to take the six-point advantage to the locker room.  Marshall Johnson was the Cougars' leading scorer with 10 points at the intermission.

The Cougars scored the first six points of the second half and led 42-30 barely three minutes into the period before MidAmerica Nazarene went on a 24-12 run over the next 11 minutes to knot the score at 54 on a free throw by Andrew Crotty with 6:18 left in the game.

The Pioneers' Danny Hawkins drained two free throws to give MidAmerica Nazarene a 56-54 lead, but that was short-lived as Azusa Pacific's Johnson drilled a 3-pointer to put the Cougars back in front. However, the Pioneers regained the lead for good when Hawkins found Vince Thompkins for a layup and a 58-57 advantage. MidAmerica Nazarene then iced the victory at the free throw line where they made 22 of its 23 free throws in the second 20 minutes.

Hawkins finished with a team-high 22 points and seven rebounds. In addition to his 19 points, Kiburz led the Pioneers on the glass with eight caroms, while Brenton Bell was also in double figures with 18 markers. Azusa Pacific got a game-high 25 points from Johnson, who was 9 of 13 from the field. Mike Danielian and Mike Caffese added 10 points each. Dave Burgess grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

MidAmerica Nazarene improves to 27-7 overall and will play second-seeded Oklahoma Baptist University  in the second round at 8 p.m. CDT on Friday. The Bison defeated Life University (Ga.) 90-81 earlier on Thursday. Azusa Pacific ends its season with a 24-10 overall record.

GAME NOTES   

First ever win at the NAIA Division I Tournament for MidAmerica Nazarene ... Loss snaps five-game winning streak in the opening round for Azusa Pacific ... Loss moves APU 24-17 overall and 11-6 in the first round ... Fourth time in five years that the No. 15 seed has lost ... MidAmerica Nazarene victory caps off three opening round wins for the Heart of America Athletic Conference in its first season as a NAIA Division I conference.