By Chad Waller, NAIA Media Services

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – (Box Score) No 4-seed Georgetown (Ky.) turned up the defense in the second-half and received 24 points by junior Quan Poindexter to claim an 81-72 victory tonight against No. 5 Park (Mo.) in the first round of the 2017 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship. Georgetown, which is competing in its NAIA-record 35th national championship tournament, extends its season with a second-round match-up Friday at 2:15 p.m. CDT against the winner of No. 1 William (Penn.) and No. 8 Loyola (La.).

Trailing 39-37 after the game’s first 20 minutes, Georgetown limited Park to 27.3 percent (9-of-33) shooting in the second half and turned the slim deficit into a lead. The Tiger defense took the firepower away from Park’s leading scorer Xavielle Brown, who finished with a team-high 24 points. But, only eight of Brown’s points came in the second half as he went 1-of-6 from the floor.
“I’m very proud of how we played, the toughness we showed,” said Georgetown Head Coach Chris Briggs. “Park came out strong with a lot of emotion, but like Happy Osborne (former Georgetown coach) always said, ‘toughness beats emotion.’”

After Park jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead after the first three minutes, the game bounced back-and-forth with the score never getting more than a six-point Park advantage. BJ Watson’s 3-pointer capped a 17-6 Park run. The Pirates, behind a mostly maroon-favored crowd at Municipal Auditorium, never trailed as they went into the locker room up 39-37.

Park shot 42.4 percent from the floor with Brown leading the way with 16 points. Georgetown went 16-of-30 (.533) in the first 20 minutes to keep the score close.

The Tigers, who are no strangers to winning in the NAIA Championship First Round, turned to Poindexter and sophomore Troy Steward. The duo combined for 26 points in the second half on 8-of-12 (.667) shooting from the field.

Poindexter put the finishing touch on a 12-0 Tiger run with a 3-pointer at the 2:27 mark late in the second half. From there, the Pirates could not come closer than four points. Georgetown converted 5-of-8 from the foul line down the stretch and held on to advance to its 26th all-time NAIA Second Round.

Steward finished his night with 19 points and has now reached double figures in scoring in all 31 games this year. Poindexter posted a team-best 24 points in 32 minutes of action. Avila Edson notched a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

Xavielle Brown finished his illustrious Park career with 24 points, nine rebounds, and two assists. The native of Fort Wayne, Ind., stands with 2,074 career points. Watson added 16 points and five assists, Zach Rutland had 10 points and five helpers and Noel Surles collected 10 points.

"I'm not sure you can say this game really slipped away from us,” said Park Head Coach Jason Kline. “It was pretty close for the whole game. We just had a couple of bad possessions and they capitalized. Once (Georgetown) made their run and we didn't score and had to foul, it's hard to come back. We gave ourselves an opportunity to win and that's all you can ask."

"Every team that gets here (to the national tournament) is good and you've got to play well if you want to win. We came here tonight expecting to win and we wanted to win this game. It just didn't work out that way. It's a grind all year for us just to get here and we're glad to be back, but we wanted to win."

Park wraps up its season with a 21-8 mark.

Game Notes
Georgetown
Georgetown is the all-time leader in qualifying for the Division I national championship making its 35th appearance - Georgetown has not missed a tourney field since beginning a string in 1992… The Tigers’ last championship title came in 2013 when they topped Southwestern Assemblies of God University, 88-62… Coach Chris Briggs has led the Tiger coaching staff for the past six years garnering a 135-40 mark… Georgetown sophomore Chris Coffey leads the team in double-doubles with 13 – tonight, he was held to four points and five rebounds… Senior Edson Avila hit a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds… Tigers advance to their 26th all-time championship second round and sixth time in the last seven events.

Park
Park made its seventh national championship tournament appearance…The Pirates have made back-to-back appearances under coach Jason Kline…The Pirates dropped to 3-4 in the first round and 5-7 overall… Xavielle Brown has posted double-figuring scoring in every game this season, owning 12, 20+ performances…BJ Watson has marked back-to-back double-digit games and overall the 23rd time this season… The Pirates pulled down 40+ total rebounds for the ninth time on the year… Zach Rutland dished out five-plus assists for the fifth-consecutive game… Rutland reached double-figures for the first time since Feb. 25, 2017… The Pirates have splashed 10+ triples 11 times this season… Noel Surles totaled double-figures for the first time since Feb. 23, 2017…