MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) Upsets No. 2 Oklahoma Baptist, 64-63
Mar 20, 2009
March 20, 2009
Kansas City, Mo. -- MidAmerica Nazarene missed its first 11 three-point attempts on the night but made it when it needed it the most. Austin Boots hit a three-pointer with 14.5 seconds remaining to give the Pioneers a 64-63 victory over No. 2 Oklahoma Baptist, the highest remaining seed in the 2009 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship
The Pioneers trailed 63-58 but held the Bison without a field goal for the final 2:50 of the game. MidAmerica Nazarene cut that deficit to three after a Danny Hawkins field goal and an Andrew Crotty free throw. After two Oklahoma Baptist misses with 35 seconds remaining, the Pioneers called Boots' number for the game winning shot. Oklahoma Baptist still had three shots to tie, but its first attempt was blocked out of bounds and two attempts in the lane in the final seconds were off the mark.
Oklahoma Baptist out rebounded MidAmerica Nazarene by 10 boards, but it only shot 36.9 percent from the field. MidAmerica Nazarene also had the advantage at the free throw line, where it hit 21 of 28, compared to 14 of 20 for the Bison.
Momentum switched back and forth throughout the first half with seven ties and five lead changes. The first big run came from the Pioneers who scored eight straight to take a 14-8 advantage. A 9-2 run by Oklahoma Baptist gave the lead back to the Bison and was the start of many of ties and lead changes. Both teams had one more run in them, with MidAmerica going on an 8-0 spurt and Oklahoma Baptist scoring seven of the final nine points of the half. When the halftime horn sounded, the Pioneers held a slim 35-34 lead.
Oklahoma Baptist held the lead for much of the second half, but had to battle through an injury and a foul out to two post players. With the score tied at 56, Nate Brumfield scored seven straight points for the Bison to help them go up 63-58. The Pioneers shut Brumfield down after that to help spark the late comeback victory.
Hawkins finished with 31 points on nine of 14 shooting from the field and 13 of 15 from the free throw line. He recorded his 25th double-double of the season with 11 rebounds. Cal Kiburz was the other MidAmerica Nazarene player in double-figures with 19 points. Brenton Bell finished with seven rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
Brumfield had a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds. He was 10 of 17 from the field for the game. Brent Jones added 17 points, six rebounds, and three assists, and Garrett Steinmetz had nine points and seven rebounds.
MidAmerica Nazarene improves to 28-7 on the year and advances to Saturday's quarterfinals. Oklahoma Baptist ends its season with a 28-5 record. MidAmerica will play the winner of McKendree/Texas Wesleyan on March 21, at 8 p.m. CT.
Game Notes:
MidAmerica Nazarene's Cal Kiburz led all scorers in the first half with 17 points....Oklahoma Baptist falls to 49-20 all-time in the tournament while MidAmerica Nazarene moves to the quarterfinal round in their first year as a Division I program...Danny Hawkins of MidAmerica Nazarene led all scorers with 31 points, his third 30-point performance of the season....Austin Boots' game-winning shot with 14.5 seconds remaining was his only field goal of the game.
