Day Three Recaps and Interviews

Kansas City, Mo. - The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has released its 2008 Division II Men's Basketball All-Americans and Ryan Fiegi (Oregon Tech), a 6-7 senior from Medford, Ore. earned NAIA Player-of-the-Year honors. Fiegi averaged nearly 20 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists this season for the Hustlin' Owls. The senior has helped lead Oregon Tech to the championship game at the 2008 NAIA D-II National Tournament.

Point Lookout, Mo. - There will be a new champion this year as #11 Oregon Tech defeated second-seed and defending champion MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.), 74-71, in the semifinals. The Hustlin' Owls will play top-seed Bellevue in the championship game on Tuesday night at 8:30 p.m. The 17th-annual event is being held at the Keeter Gymnasium on the campus of the College of the Ozarks (Mo.).

The defending champions started strong, taking a 6-0 lead in the opening minutes. Oregon Tech came storming back to tie the game at 14. Six straight points by Pioneer guard Adam Hepker put MNU back up, 22-16, with eight minutes left. Oregon Tech took their first lead of the night (25-24) on a Ryan Fiegi jumper and built the lead up to 34-28 just before the half. Fiegi scored a total of nine points during the run. The teams went in for halftime with Oregon Tech leading 40-34.

Point Lookout, Mo. - Top-seeded Bellevue (Neb.) defeated #5 Northwestern (Iowa) 70-67 in the first game of the Final Four and will advance to their second ever championship game. The 2008 NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship is being played at the Keeter Gymnasium on the campus of the College of the Ozarks (Mo.).

Northwestern led 7-5 before a 6-0 Bellevue run put the Bruins up 11-7. Five straight Red Raider points put NWC back up by one, sparked by a Ben Brown three pointer. The game remained tight the rest of the half but the Bruins were able to open their biggest lead of the game at halftime, 34-26.
Northwestern in Thriller, 70-67

Point Lookout, Mo. - The Final Four is set as 11^th seed Oregon Tech defeats unseeded Grace College (Ind.), 81-70, in the final game of the night. The 17^th-annual event is being held at the Keeter Gymnasium on the campus of the College of the Ozarks (Mo.).

 Grace took the early lead (7-4) behind a pair of three pointers by junior forward Michael Wienhorst. The Lancers pushed their advantage up to seven before Oregon Tech went on a 10-2 run to pull ahead, 18-17. The lead exchanged hands over the next five minutes until the Hustlin' Owls pulled ahead and went into the locker room with a 30-27 lead. Both teams struggled from the perimeter as they combined to shoot 3-for-16 from beyond the arc.

Point Lookout, Mo. - Defending champion MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) returns to the Final Four for the third straight year with a 70-58 win over 10^th seed College of the Ozarks (Mo.). The 17^th-annual event is being held at the Keeter Gymnasium on the campus of the College of the Ozarks (Mo.).

 Both teams held the lead early in the first half until Ozarks surged ahead 28-21 with seven minutes left to play. The Pioneers responded with a 7-0 run, capped off by an Austin Boots three pointer to take a 34-32 lead with 2:44 left in the half. Ozarks forward Corey Stone scored the final basket of the first half and tied the game at 34 as the team's headed to the locker room.

Point Lookout, Mo. - Bellevue (Neb.) became the first number one seed to advance to the Final Four since 2003 as they defeated ninth-seed Bethel (Ind.), 73-69. The Bruins advance to their second Final Four in school history as they lost in the championship game to Oregon Tech in 2004. The 17^th-annual event is being held at the Keeter Gymnasium on the campus of the College of the Ozarks (Mo.).

Bellevue hit back-to-back three pointers which helped trigger a 13-2 run to close the first half and take a 40-34 halftime lead. Both teams shot well in the opening half as Bethel was 56% from the floor compared to 52% for the Bruins.

Day Three - Barrett Henderson

Wow, what a sweet 16! An incredible day of basketball, close games all day long, back-and-forth battles; it’s a shame any team had to leave.

The breakfast battle of the day featured ninth seeded Bethel and Ottawa. A close game throughout, saw the Pilots pull away late. Bethel returns to the elite eight for the first time since 1999.

They will play top-seed Bellevue who needed all forty minutes to rally past 16^th seed Aquinas. The Bruins trailed in this game a few times, but outlasted Aquinas, 65-61. Bellevue surprisingly enough, becomes the first number one seed to make the elite eight since 2003.

Bellevue (Neb.) defeated Bethel (Ind.) 73-69 to advance into the round of four.

Point Lookout, Mo. - 11^th seed Oregon Tech completes the quarterfinal field as they defeat sixth seed Evangel (Mo.), 72-63, in the final game of the second round at the 2008 NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship. The 17^th-annual event is being held at the Keeter Gymnasium on the campus of the College of the Ozarks (Mo.).

Both teams went on huge runs in the first half. Oregon Tech sprinted out of the gate, scoring the first 15 points of the game and then Evangel outscored the Hustlin Owls 19-5 to tie the game at 22. Oregon Tech held a slim lead, 27-26, at intermission.

With the score tied in the second half at 32, Evangel went on a 7-0 run to pull ahead 39-32, their biggest lead of the game. Oregon Tech came back and took the lead for good with 10:24 left in the game, 43-41. They extended their advantage to eight and made 6-of-8 free throws down the stretch to preserve the victory.

Ozarks (Mo.) defeat EOU 65-42 to advance to Saturday play.

Bobcat defense sets new tournament record.

 

Point Lookout, Mo. - Grace University (Ind.) became the first un-seeded team to reach the elite-eight with a 90-81 overtime victory over third-seeded Morningside College (Iowa) at the 2008 NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship. The 17^th-annual event is being held at the Keeter Gymnasium on the campus of the College of the Ozarks (Mo.).

 David Swanson broke a 76-76 tie with a three-point play with two minutes remaining in overtime, the third of the tournament, to give Grace (Ind.) a 79-76 lead. Austin Kaiser scored the next four points putting the Lancers up five points with 1:30 left. Grace increased the lead to nine points, the largest of the game, with a 9-0 run that sealed the victory for the Lancers down the stretch as the No. 3 seed Mustangs made only three field goals in the overtime frame.

 Grace opened the game on a 5-0 run before Morningside countered with Thomas Pargett scored the Mustangs first five points to tie the game. Morningside increased their lead to four points (22-15) with ten minutes remaining but Grace rallied to close the half out-scoring the Mustangs 30-15 taking a 45-37 lead into the locker room.

 

Point Lookout, Mo. - Defending champion MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) advanced to their third straight Elite Eight as they defeated #15 Cedarville (Ohio), 79-73 in the second round of the 2008 NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship. The 17^th-annual event is being held at the Keeter Gymnasium on the campus of the College of the Ozarks (Mo.).

Both teams held the lead in a very close first half. Trailing by one, MidAmerica Nazarene went on a 7-0 run to pull ahead in the second half, 46-40. Cedarville battled back to take the lead back but Ben Swinger hit a jumper in the lane with 10:32 left to play which gave the Pioneers the lead for good. The defending champions pulled away with another run late in the game and sealed the win by making 11-of-15 free throws down the stretch.

Northwestern (Iowa) used late free-throws from Curt Schilling to defeat Oklahoma Wesleyan 86-85 in overtime.