By Matt Bos, NAIA Media Coordinator

POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. – (Box Score)- No. 4 College of Idaho held off a late rally to defeat unseeded Dakota State (S.D.) 65-64 in the first round of the 2015 NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball National Championship.

With the win, College of Idaho moves onto the second round for the first time since 2004 and improves to 29-5 on the season. The Coyotes will play either College of the Ozarks (Mo.) or Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) in the second round.

“This was a huge win for our team, but more importantly, it was huge for our school and our program,” C of I head coach Scott Garson said.  “To get our first win in 11 years at the national tournament is outstanding, but more importantly, it allows us to move on and play another day.”

Dakota State saw their season end with a 17-15 mark.

The first half was a bit of a defensive struggle between the teams but College of Idaho kept the lead for the entire period, going into the break up, 39-29, over Dakota State.

In the second half, it was more of the same, despite the fact that the Trojans made several runs at the Coyotes throughout the period. Things came to a head with four and a half minutes left, as College of Idaho held a slim 62-56 lead over Dakota State.

There, Demetrius Perkins made a jumper to put College of Idaho up 64-56, a lead they held into the three-minute mark. But, Dakota State converted on two free throws to cut the lead down to 64-58, then, made a lay-up with two minutes left to cut the College of Idaho lead all the way down to 64-60. After the Coyotes missed another shot on their end, DSU made another lay-in to cut the lead all the way down to 64-62 with under a minute left.

With 35 seconds left, College of Idaho stepped to the line with a chance to extend the lead, making 1-of-2 free throws to go up three at 65-62. With 10 seconds left, Dakota State’s Derek Mager was fouled shooting a three-pointer and made 2-of-3 attempts from the line, making the score 65-64 in the Coyotes advantage.

With nine seconds left, CofI missed the front end of a 1-and-1, setting the stage for DSU to try to win the game with a last second shot. But, an attempt rattled off the rim at the buzzer, as the Coyotes escaped a valiant upset bid by the Trojans in the process.

“We knew they were going to try to get the ball into (leading scorer) Bryant Allen’s hands,” Garson said.  “We did a great job of switching to deny Allen and Joey Nebeker forced a really tough shot. “

Overall, College of Idaho had three different players score 11 points for the game to lead the way; Joe Vaz, Marko Kovacevic and Josh Wilson. Rounding out the top scorers were Demetrius Perkins and Joey Nebeker, who had 10 points, apiece.

Dakota State was led in the defeat by Bryant Allen, who scored a game-high 15 points.