Story by Andy Pulverenti, NAIA Media Services

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – (box score) No. 1 seeded LSU Alexandria (La.) continued its unbeaten run this season, using a big second half to overwhelm No. 8 seed Science and Arts (Okla.) in a 104-80 victory in the first round of the 2017 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship. The Generals move to 32-0 on the year and is the first team since Columbia (Mo.) in 2013 to enter the championship undefeated. They advance to the NAIA National Championship Second Round Friday at 4 p.m. CST against No. 5 Westmont (Calif.).

Brandon Moss recorded his seventh double-double of the season, scoring 18 points and grabbing 12 rebounds to lead the Generals (32-0). Teammate Brian Sylvester finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds to register his team-leading ninth double-double of the season. The pair combined to shoot 15-of-29 from the floor. Hayward Register added 17 points and Jordin Williams scored 15 points.

“We know USAO would give us a tough test because they have two of the best guards in the nation,” commented 2017 NABC-NAIA Coach of the Year Larry Cordaro. “We did a good job of mixing up our defense in the second half to give them different looks and confuse them. I also have to credit our guys for not starting to rush when we got down double digits and played within our system to go on the big run that got us the lead.

“We stopped settling for threes and started playing to our advantage inside. It’s good to get win number one and get that confidence going into the next game tomorrow evening.”

Science and Arts led through much of the first half after trailing briefly at 7-4 with just over two minutes played. The Drovers reclaimed the lead after a three-point play from Imani Edwards made the score 9-7 with 17:01 to play in the first half. Edwards finished with a game-high 20 points.

Science and Arts slowly built up its lead over the next several minutes, and led by double-digits for the first time with 7:09 to play before the break as Brendan Chapman scored two of his 11 points to make the score 34-24. The Drovers maintained a 44-38 lead with a little more than three minutes to play before halftime, but LSU Alexandria followed with a 15-0 run that spanned over six minutes at the end of the first half and into the early stages of the second half to claim a 53-44 lead.

LSU Alexandria had its first double-digit lead after a field goal from Williams made the score 55-45 with 17:06 remaining in the game. Science and Arts trailed by a 68-61 score with 12:25 to play, but the Generals outscored the Drovers by a 24-9 margin over a more than eight-minute stretch late in the game to build a 92-70 lead.

The Generals topped the century-mark with just under one minute to play, on a field goal from Javante Walker, and the Generals closed out a 104-80 win by shooting 57.9 percent in the second half.

LSU Alexandria finished with a season-high in field goals made (41) and total points (104). The Generals shot 51.9 percent from the floor overall and finished with a 52-31 edge in rebounding. LSU Alexandria also got 52 points from its bench and 52 points in the paint.

Drover Taran Buie, who entered the game as the NAIA’s leading scorer with a 27.4 points per game average, finished with 17 points. Julius Foster finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds to record his first double-double of the season. Yahka Mjuambi scored 12 points, his second-highest total this season, while Brendan Chapman added 11 points. The Drovers shot 51.5 percent in the first half, but made just 30.3 percent of their shots after halftime.

“We had a strong start to the game, knocking down our shots and free throws,” said Science & Arts head coach Chris Francis. “In the final two minutes of the first half, fatigue set in and LSU closed the gap. We regrouped at the start of the second half, but ultimately ran out of gas. They have a deep bench and some huge players. We did our best to play our game, playing fast with lots of attempts, but they beat us on the boards and we struggled from the foul line.”

Science and Arts finishes its season with a record of 19-14.

LSU Alexandria:
LSUA enters tourney as the top seed and is making their third appearance… Head Coach Larry Cordaro is the only coach the Generals have ever had -- the program is in its third year and has qualified for the national tournament all three years… The Generals are the only undefeated team in the field at 32-0 after today’s win... LSUA is 2-1 in first round games… Senior Gilbert Talbot was Division I National Player of the Week on Feb. 7, when he scored 35 points over two games and pulled down a school-record 18 rebounds against No. 17 LSU-Shreveport… LSUA had a commanding rebounding edge, 52-31, and had twice as many assists, 18-9… The 104-80 win marks the fifth time the Generals have topped the century mark this year.

Science & Arts:
Science & Arts is making its seventh appearance in the NAIA National Championship, but it's the Drovers' first berth since 2013, when they lost in the opening round to SAGU (Texas), 62-58...Science & Arts is now 10-6 all-time in the event, including a national championship title in 2002 and a runner-up finish in 2001...The Drovers are 3-4 in opening-round games, last advancing to the second round in 2003, when they beat Pikeville (Ky.)… The loss runs Science & Arts' streak of opening-round losses to four straight in the tournament... Drovers coach Chris Francis is in just his second year at the helm and owns a 34-26 (.567) record... Science & Arts is now 4-7 against teams in this year’s event.

Overall Notes:
Science & Arts is one of four teams in the tournament from the Sooner Athletic Conference… LSU Alexandria is one of four in the tournament from the Red River Athletic Conference…The Sooner Athletic Conference is currently 1-2… Red River Athletic Conference is currently 3-0… LSU Alexandria reached the tournament undefeated (31-0) for the first time since 2013 when Columbia (Mo.) debuted at 33-0… Higher-seeded teams are now 9-2 in the first 11 games of the Championship… The teams leading at halftime are 7-4 in the tournament so far… It’s the sixth game decided by 10 or more points… It’s the second time in the tournament that a team has hit the century mark – No. 1 seed William Penn scored 100 in the victory over Loyola on Wednesday.