Georgetown routs Carroll College for third NAIA hoops
championship-Mar
26, 2019
Make room, Kentucky State. Step aside, Tennessee
State. You've got company. Georgetown (Ky.) College
overpowered Carroll (Mont.) College 68-48 and won
the 82nd NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
championship game Tuesday night in front of 3,154 at
Municipal Auditorium, giving the Tigers their third
national title. The Tigers, 33-4, became only the
seventh school to win as many as three titles in the
oldest national college tournament. Oklahoma City
has won six championships, and Georgetown joined
Kentucky State, Tennessee State, Grand (Ariz.)
Canyon, Life (Ga.), Hamline (Minn.), as three-time
winners. Georgetown also has been a runner-up four
times, including a bitter last-second loss to
Mid-America (Okla.) Christian in 2016, so this win
was particularly gratifying to the Tigers. Carroll,
29-8, in its 13th NAIA Tournament appearance, was
making its first appearance in the finals. Until
this week, the farthest they had reached was in 2005
when current first year coachKurt Paulsonwas the Fighting Saints'
point guard. By contrast, this was Georgetown's 38th
appearance, and the Tigers are 73-37 in the
tournament, the most wins of any program. This win
was by the most lopsided margin in an NAIA title
game since Georgetown beat SAGU (Texas) 88-62 in
2013. Georgetown, exploiting its advantages in
height, length and quickness, received contributions
from all eight players in uniform and became the
first No. 1 seed to win the tournament since
Mountain State (W. Va.) in 2004. Point guard Eljay
Coward scored 15 points and dished five assists,
super subDominique Reid(6'8''-F) scored 14 points and
forwardChris Coffey(6'7''-F), the tournament
MVP, scored 10 points with 16 rebounds, his fourth
double-double of the tournament. 'To go from losing
here (in the title game) my freshman year to winning
it all is a big difference, baby,' said Coffey, a
6-7 junior from Louisville. 'We just played team
ball, that's all it took.' The Tigers zoomed to a
22-6 lead before Paulson called a timeout with 8:38
to play in the first half. Stymied by the Tigers'
athleticism on defense, the Fighting Saints, who led
the nation in three-point field goal percentage,
made just two of their first 17 field goal attempts.
More frustrating to Carroll was forwardMatch Burnham(6'8''-F), who had averaged
25 points per game in the first four games of the
tournament, was unable to shake free from the
defense of Broderick Jones andChris Coffey. Burnham missed his first five shots, was
called for traveling three times in the first half
as he fought for room to shoot or drive. He finished
the half with four points on one of eight shooting
and ended up with a team-leading 17 points. .'Their
athleticism was a problem,' said Paulson. 'We didn't
have a very good start like we've been doing. They
capitalized on it with an early lead, and it was
tough for us to come back.' Georgetown, on its way
to its 10th straight win, led 35-15 at halftime. The
Tigers dominated inside, scoring 26 of their 35
points inside the paint and made 15 of 29 from the
field. Carroll couldn't get anything going. The
Fighting Saints made just six of 32 shots from the
field, including 1 of 14 from three-point range.
Georgetown held the rebounding edge 25-15 in the
first half, 'I'm so proud of these guys' said
Georgetown coachChris Briggs, who now has won two NAIA
titles. 'Georgetown College is a special place.
There's a lot of tradition there … I'm blessed to be
a part of it. Our guys were focused, and we talked
at halftime about keeping our foot on the gas pedal
like William Carey (Miss.) did in the semifinal and
not give them an opportunity. 'It was a team effort.
Guys having fun and guys loving each other. That's
what we've got, and we love it.' Attendance note:
The NAIA announced the tournament drew 44,934 for
the six days, the largest attendance since 1992 when
the tournament was played at Kemper Arena.
Cougars Survive Late-Game Charge by Hustin' Owls in
Title Game-Mar
12, 2019
A blazing start led to big offensive numbers at the
Sanford Pentagon on Tuesday night. While both Oregon
Tech and Spring Arbor (Mich.) traded shots most of the
night, it was the Cougars who held-off the Hustlin' Owls
to claim their first NAIA Division II Men's Basketball
National Championship. In a fast-paced first half,
Spring Arbor came out of the gate on fire.Luke Barber(6'4''-G) hit the game's opening
bucket, a three-pointer, to give his Cougars an early
lead.Paul Marandet(6'1''-G) andBrandon Durnell(6'6''-F) followed with both a
bucket off a turnover and another three, to put the team
from Michigan out-front 8-0 in the opening
three-minutes. Down 8-0, Oregon Tech pushed right back.
The Hustlin' Owls posted an 8-0 run of their own to even
the game at 10 apiece with 14:18 remaining in the
opening frame. The offense, however, stalled for Oregon
Tech shortly after. The Hustlin' Owls went cold as the
Cougars continued to put points up on the board. Spring
Arbor rattled-off an 11-0 run to increase their lead up
to 25-16. While The Cougars stayed hot, the Hustlin'
Owls stayed within striking distance. On the whole in
the opening 20 minutes, Oregon Tech shot 50 percent from
the floor, continuing their explosive offense into the
championship game. Spring Arbor shot 70 percent from
three-point range and 53 percent from the floor in the
opening half as their persistence paid-off in the early
going. Both Durnell and Marandet finished in double
figures after one half of play. The game, however,
continued to trend in the direction of Spring Arbor as
the second half got underway. The Cougars hit three of
four three-point opportunities in the first five minutes
of the half.Mitchell Fink(6'1''-G), who had posted 34
points in the quarterfinal victory against Indiana
Wesleyan, posted nine, first-half points. He finished
with 25 points for Oregon Tech, 16 in the final 20
minutes.Brandon Durnellwas the key cog for the Cougars
in the title game. The sophomore from Fort Wayne, Ind.,
had already racked-up 24 points by the 13:45 mark of the
second half as he led his team to its first NAIA
Division II Men's Basketball National Championship in
just their third trip to the championship in team
history. Durnell completed his evening with an
impressive 32-point performance. Oregon Tech
chipped-away at the Spring Arbor lead and cut its
deficit to as few as four with 3:20 remaining, but was
never quite able to get over the hump. The difference
remained four for much of the final three minutes, but
the Cougars held-on and hit critical free throws down
the stretch. In addition to Fink for Oregon Tech,Kellen Gerig(6'3''-G),Cal Stueve(6'5''-G) andSeth Erickson(6'3''-G) all finished in
double figures. Courtesy of: naia.org
NAIA Division II All-Championship Tournament Teams 2019-Mar
16, 2019
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