Men's Basketball Wins CCAC Tournament Title & Punches Ticket to NAIA National Tournament - Mar 2, 2016

The fourth seeded Robert Morris Illinois Men's Basketball team punched its ticket to the 2016 NAIA Division II National Tournament by defeating seventh seeded Indiana University South Bend by the score of 88-85 to win the CCAC Conference Tournament on Tuesday, March 1st at the RMU Athletic & Convocation Center. The Eagles won their 11th CCAC Tournament title and will be making their 13th appearance at the NAIA National Tournament, joining fellow conference members University of Saint Francis and Saint Xavier University at the event, which will be held March 9th-15th at College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri.
The Eagles scored the first basket of the game on a Terrelle Green (6'3''-G) (SR/Chicago, Ill.) jumper, but the Titans scored the next five points on a Riley Stichter (6'5''-G-92) layup and Javonte Young (6'2''-G) three-pointer and held a 12-9 lead 13:27 to go in the first half. However, RMU answered back with five straight points on a Johnny Stevens (6'5''-G) (SR/Chicago, Ill.) trey and a Darius Randolph (6'5''-F) (JR/Joliet, Ill.) jumper to lead 14-12.
The two teams would battle back-and-forth for the remainder of the opening half, with eight lead changes and 10 ties in the stanza. Trailing 33-32 late, Stevens hit another three-pointer and Greene scored on a layup to give the Eagles a four-point advantage, the largest lead by either team in the half, and the Eagles took a 39-35 lead into the locker room at the break.
RMU opened up its lead to begin the second half, going on a 10-1 run to take 49-36 advantage just under three minutes in. The Eagles pushed their lead to 15 points at 54-39 on a Green three-pointer with 15:21 to go, but the Titans cut the margin to 60-52 with 12:46 remaining and kept the momentum going to tie the score at 71-71 with 7:21 to play. The run was keyed by three consecutive three-pointers, with Taylor Brooks (6'6''-F) knocking down two and Jeremy Jones (6'2''-G) hitting the other.
The Eagles regained the lead at 78-75 on a Green three-pointer, but Indiana South Bend's Joe Bannister (5'10''-PG) hit a three of his own and Stichter hit a free throw to put the Titans in front for the first time since late in the first half at 79-78. The teams traded leads before being tied 83-83 with 2:16 left on the clock, and then Randolph knocked down a three-pointer with 1:06 to go to put the Eagles up 86-83.
The Titans missed their next three shots and Green grabbed the rebound on the last shot and was fouled to go to the line with eight seconds to go. The senior nailed both free throws to put RMU up 88-83 and seal the tournament title. Javonte Young scored on a layup for Indiana South Bend as time expired to make the game an 88-85 final.
The Eagles shot 55% from the field and 47.1% from behind the arc, while the Titans shot 39.4% from the field and 35.3% from three-point range. Indiana South Bend's bench outscored RMU's 58-26 in the contest.
Terrelle Green led all scorers with a career high 33 points on 13-20 shooting to go with six rebounds and three steals, while Darius Randolph added 22 points and was 9-12 from the field. Johnny Stevens had 13 points and Corey McCrary (SR/Chicago, Ill.) chipped in with 10 points for RMU in the win.
Joe Bannister led the Titans with a season high 25 points and Jeremy Jones added 19 points. Taylor Brooks scored 14 points, while Javonte Young chipped in with 13 points and Riley Stichter grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds in the loss.

Courtesy of CCAC

CCAC Tournament Final: Robert Morris - Ind.-South Bend 88-85
CCAC Tournament Semifinals:
Robert Morris - St. Francis 99-87
Ind.-South Bend - Saint Xavier 71-69