March 20, 2009

Kansas City, Mo. - Twelfth-seeded Concordia University (Calif.) held off fifth-seeded Mountain State University (W. Va.) 85-79 in second round action at the 2009 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at Municipal Auditorium Friday morning.

Concordia led by as many as 13 points in the first half and eventually held a 41-36 halftime advantage. Mountain State took two leads in the second half, the last a four-point margin with 9:54 remaining in the game on a basket by Marcus Aldridge. However, the Eagles used a 21-9 run over the next six minutes to put Mountain State in a 78-70 hole. Concordia made five of nine free throws in the final minute to keep the Cougars at bay.

Both teams showed good marksmanship in the opening half with each team shooting over 50 percent from the field. Concordia was 17 of 33 for 51.5 percent while Mountain State drained 15 of its 29 shots for 51.7 percent. Each team turned the ball over 10 times in the first 20 minutes.

Phil Friesen netted a game-best 25 points, including 17 in the second half, for Concordia. Friesen was 9 for 15 from the field and a perfect 5 for 5 from outside the arc. Terrence Worthy added 14 points while Ben Smith totaled 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Mountain State put all five starters in double figures with Aldridge leading the way with 19 points. Bo Harris contributed 16 points and eight caroms, while Tony Brown and Andrew Lee chipped in with 14 and 12 points, respectively.

Concordia, which improves to 28-6 on the season, advances to Saturday's 3 p.m. CDT quarterfinal game against either Rocky Mountain College (Mont.) or Central Methodist University (Mo.). Mountain State ends its campaign with a 28-5 overall record.

GAME NOTES

Concordia advances to its fifth all-time NAIA quarterfinal, with the most recent coming in 2007 ... Concordia is the second No. 12 seed in the last three years to advance to the quarterfinal round ... Concordia improves to 16-5 all-time in the tournament, while Mountain State falls to 19-10 ... Concordia hit 13 three-pointers in the game, the most by a team at this year's tournament ... Concordia's Phil Friesen had a season-high 25 points ... Mountain State and Concordia have met twice in the NAIA national championship game, with Concordia winning 88-84 in overtime in 2003, and Mountain State winning 74-70 in 2004.