March 20, 2009

Kansas City, Mo. - Auburn University Montgomery (Ala.) outscored William Jewell College (Mo.) 52-33 in the second half to post an 83-67 victory during the second round of the 2009 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at Municipal Auditorium Friday afternoon.

The Senators trailed 34-31 at halftime but shot a blistering 65.2 percent from the field in the second half, making 15 of its 23 attempts. Meanwhile, Auburn Montgomery's defense turned up the pressure and limited the Cardinals to 32.1 percent shooting and forced 10 turnovers in the half.

The game's fifth and final tie was at 44-44 when William Jewell's Kyle Fisher scored off a turnover with 11:26 to play. From that point, Auburn Montgomery reeled off 11 straight points and scored 18 of the next 21 markers to put the game away.

Robert Johnson led a balanced Senator attack with 19 points, on eight of 10 shooting, and seven rebounds. Quadavious Brown added 18 points while Kip Small netted 17 points. Nathan Thomas recorded 10 points and shared rebound honors with Johnson, totaling seven.

For William Jewell, Alex Bernskoetter came off the bench to lead the Cardinals with 14 points. He had a perfect shooting day, going four for four from the field and six for six from the free throw line. Larry Mandacina tallied 11 points and Jacques Wilson recorded 10 points.

Auburn Montgomery improves to 27-6 overall and will play Robert Morris College (Ill.) in the first quarterfinal game at 1 p.m. CDT on Saturday. Robert Morris defeated Tougaloo College (Miss.) 89-69 on Friday to advance to the next round. William Jewell ends its season with a 23-11 overall record.

GAME NOTES

Auburn Montgomery's  starters outscored the Cardinals' starters 73-34 ... Auburn Montgomery advances to the quarterfinals for the first time since 1988, when it won the quarterfinal contest with a 51-49 victory over William Jewell ... Auburn Montgomery improves to 11-10 all-time in the tournament, while William Jewell is now 8-6 in tournament play ... the Cardinals fall to 2-3 all-time in the second round of the tournament ... Auburn Montgomery head coach Larry Chapman and William Jewell head coach Larry Holley have a combined 62 years of coaching experience and more than 1,400 victories.