March 21, 2009

Kansas City, Mo. - Rocky Mountain College (Mont.) shot 65.4 percent in the second half (17-of-26) to erase an 11-point halftime deficit on its way to a 72-64 win over No. 12 Concordia University (Calif.) in the quarterfinal round of the 2009 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship Saturday at Municipal Auditorium.

In addition to its solid second-half shooting, the Battlin' Bears held the Eagles to just 34.4 percent shooting (11-of-32) in the final 20 minutes. Rocky Mountain, which had never won an NAIA Tournament game entering this year's event, improves to 26-9 overall and will make its first national semifinal appearance on Monday. The Battlin' Bears will take on No. 8 seed Robert Morris College (Ill.) in the evening's first semifinal contest, which is scheduled for a 6:50 p.m. CDT tip-off.

Devin Uskoski scored 13 of his team-leading 20 points in the second half to pace Rocky Mountain. Uskoski also hauled in a game-high 16 rebounds. Chase Sukut netted 13 of his 17 points after the intermission, while Nate Richardson connected for 11 points for the Battlin' Bears.

Concordia, which was looking for its third NAIA Tournament semifinal appearance since 2003, went on a 13-2 run midway through the first half to command a 21-11 lead. Kingsley Costain had six points during the stretch for the Eagles. Rocky Mountain pulled to within six points before Concordia was able to extend its advantage back to 37-26 at the half.

Rocky Mountain opened the second half with an 18-4 run to grab the lead for good at 44-41 with just over 12 minutes remaining. Concordia rallied to within one point on two different occasions after that, but the Battlin' Bears took command with a 12-2 run to build a 58-47 lead with 8:19 to play. The Eagles put together one final run, pulling within 64-62 on a three-pointer from the wing by Costain with 40.7 seconds on the clock. James Bulluck helped clinch the victory for Rocky Mountain, making all six of his free throw attempts in the last 38 seconds.

Costain led all scorers as he poured in 26 points for Concordia. Phil Friesen connected for 10 points while Ben Smith registered nine points and a team-high seven rebounds. The Eagles, who lost for just the second time in their last 16 games, close out their season with an overall record of 28-7.

- NAIA -

GAME NOTES -
The Eagles eventually went into the halftime break with its 37-26 lead after hitting six of 10 three-pointers ... in the first 12 minutes of the second half, Rocky Mountain went on a 32-10 run to take an 11-point lead ... Concordia pulled within two in the last minute, but James Bullock hit 6-of-6 free throws for the Battlin' Bears to put the game away ... Rocky Mountain shot 34.5 percent from the field in the first half and 65.4 percent in the second half ... Concordia hit just one of 10 three-pointers in the final half ... Rocky Mountain overcame a halftime deficit for the second time this tournament as it trailed by nine in its opener against Freed-Hardeman ... Rocky Mountain's Devin Uskoski recorded his third double-double of the tournament and pushed his NAIA-leading mark to 27 ... Concordia's Kingsley Costain had 26 points, more than his first two games combined at the tournament ... Rocky Mountain's victory marks the fifth straight tournament that at least one unseeded team has reached the semifinals ... Rocky Mountain improves to 3-5 in its sixth tournament appearance, while Concordia falls to 16-6 all-time ... Concordia lost for just the second time in five quarterfinal appearances.