Story by NAIA National Office

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – (Box score) No. 3 seed MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) never trailed in overtime and gutted out an 87-82 victory against No. 6 Oklahoma City in the first round of the 2016 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship. The Pioneers next tangle with championship newcomer No. 7 William Jessup (Calif.) on Friday, March 18 at 8 p.m. CDT. Tomorrow’s trip is the third-straight second round appearance for the Pioneers.

Less than 20 seconds into the overtime stanza, Jonas Page hit a 2-pointer and MidAmerica Nazarene never looked back behind steady free throw shooting. The Pioneers went 7-for-10 in the overtime frame and finished the game 24-for-36 (.667). On the other side, Oklahoma City finished the contest 20-for-33 (.606) from the charity stripe.

Nick Syrie, the team’s leading scorer and assists-generator, collected a game-high 21 points and six dimes. Page ended his night with 18 points on 6-of-15 shooting, to go along with a 4-for-10 effort behind the arc. Justin Randall (15 points) and Gabriel Jordan (12 points) rounded out the double-figure scorers.

“At halftime, we talked about the majority of these kids have never been to the national tournament,” said MidAmerica Nazarene Head Coach Rocky Lamar. “Usually in that first game, you end up with some issues. We told them in the second half, you’re going to be fine, just keep playing.”

In a game that saw 12 lead changes and nine ties, the contest was taken control early by Oklahoma City. A basket and free throw by Alex James ignited a mini 7-0 spurt for the Stars and Oklahoma City led 16-10 at the 11:10 mark. But MidAmerica Nazarene responded to take a 17-16 lead and both teams battled back-and-forth into halftime. The score was tied at 31-31 at the half.

Oklahoma City led for the first 13 minutes of the second half, which creeped up to a seven-point advantage at 58-51 with 7:22 remaining after a 3-pointer by Terence Bonhomme – his only field goal of the game. A bucket by MidAmerica Nazarene’s Justin Jamison swung the momentum back with the Pioneers and MNU took a 64-62 lead with 4:03 left.

Up six points under a minute to go, MidAmerica Nazarene committed a trio of fouls that sent Oklahoma City to the free throw line. The final foul in that sequence occurred on a 3-point attempt by Oklahoma City’s Bonhomme with :01 remaining on the clock. The sophomore guard sunk all three free throws to send the game into overtime tied at 72-72.

But, the Pioneers eliminated the Stars in the extra frame, who dropped their fourth-straight first round tournament game.

Noel Allen led the Stars with 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting, with 13 coming after the half. Jonathan Reed came off the bench to pour in 14, while Dorion Gigger concluded his night with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

MidAmerica Nazarene used 48.6 percent shooting (18-of-37) in the second half to finish 43.8 percent overall. The Stars offense went 28-for-67 (.418) overall after they struggled to get out of the gates in the first frame to a tune of 35.5 percent.

“This team’s been very good defensively all year and they play extremely hard,” said Oklahoma City Head Coach Vinay Patel. “I’m very proud of the effort that this team put forth this year. When (Jonas Page) got hot, that’s when things started to change. They (MidAmerica Nazarene) started hitting more perimeter shots when neither team was able to hit many of those. They got hot and that created some separation and we had to play from behind and started pressing a little bit. Give them a lot of credit, that’s a very good basketball team over there.”

Oklahoma City finishes its season with a 15-11 record.

Game notes:
MidAmerica Nazarene – Making fourth appearance in championship after missing out in 2015… Lost to eighth ranked Emmanuel (Ga.) in 2014 semifinals, 76-72…Heart of America Athletic Conference regular-season champion, losing to William Penn (Iowa) in championship game, 83-67… Ranked nationally No. 1 in total assists (670) and assists per game (20.3)… Nick Syrie holds No. 1 ranking in total assists (257) and assists per game (7.8), while Cale Brubaker ranks first in assist/turnover ratio (4.1)… Game-high scorer Syrie finished with 21 points and seven rebounds with six assists to push his NAIA high to 676… Went 7-for-15 from behind the arc, five coming in crucial moments of second half.

Oklahoma City – Making its 21st overall appearance in championship, which ranks third among 2016 participants. …Has now lost four consecutive first-round games and is 17-5 all-time. …Last win was in the 2008 championship game, defeating Mountain State (W.Va.), 75-72. …Owns six national titles, which is the most in NAIA history. …Entered with 47 tournament wins, which is the second-most of any participating program. …Now 0-2 in overtime this year.