Posted: Mar 12, 2010
POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. -- Cedarville's Derick Hannon's 15-foot jumper went rattled in and out at the buzzer as the Bellevue University men's basketball team escaped with a 70-69 win over the Yellowjackets in the second round of the NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Championship Friday afternoon at Keeter Gymnasium on the campus of College of the Ozarks.
With the win, the No. 4-seeded Bruins improve to 27-7 on the season and advance to the NAIA quarterfinals for the third-straight season, where they will face fifth-seeded Indiana University Southeast.
Cedarville, champions of the American Mideast Conference Tournament, end their season at 26-9.
Hannon's free throw with 1:30 remaining pulled the Yellowjackets to within one at 70-69. The final minute endured five total timeouts and a missed shot by both teams before Hannon's last-second shot.
Senior \#Ron King\# led the Bruins with 15 points and six rebounds. Senior \#Antoine Dade\#, who was plagued with foul trouble for the majority of the game, finished with 14 points and six rebounds in 21 minutes of action. Junior \#Avery Tyler\# was the third Bruin in double figures, finishing with 13 points, to go along with six rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Senior \#Josh Vanderslice\# came off the bench to score nine points and was 4-of-5 from the field.
Cedarville was led by Chris Beals' 28 points. Austin Foote was the only other Yellowjacket in double figures with 11 points.
Three-pointers by King and \#Jace Fredenburg\# keyed a 7-0 Bruin run midway through the first half to give Bellevue a 26-19 edge with just over seven minutes remaining in the opening period.
After the Bruins pushed the lead to double-digits, Cedarville closed the half with a 10-5 run to close to within five points at 39-34 as Bellevue played without 6-8 Dade and 6-10 Diop for the final five minutes of the period. The inside duo left with foul trouble as Diop was whistled three times and Dade twice in the opening 10 minutes.
Leading 39-31, the Bruins had a chance to go into the locker room with a double-digit advantage. However, the YellowJackets' Matt Harner stole the ball from King as he was driving in the lane and Harner was fouled on the other end with under two seconds to play. Harner made the first free shot and missed the second, but Adam Riehle got the putback at the buzzer to pull Cedarville to within five at 39-34 at the intermission.
Dade scored nine points and grabbed three rebounds to lead BU in the first half as Bellevue shot 58.3 percent (12-of-24) from the field.
Cedarville opened the second half on a 15-4 run to take a 49-43 lead with just under 16 minutes remaining in the game as the Bruins went cold from the field, shooting just 29.4 percent (10-of-34) after the break.
Vanderslice's three-point play capped a 10-2 BU spurt as the Bruins regained the lead, 53-51 at the 13:30 mark.
After Cedarville tied the game at 61 with a 3-pointer by Hannon with just under eight minutes left, the Bruins responded with a 7-0 run over the next four minutes to gain a 68-61 advantage at the four minute mark.
The Yellowjackets answered with an 8-2 run over the next three minutes to pull within one point at 70-69 with 1:30 remaining. Neither team was able to score the rest of the way as Bellevue won their eighth-straight contest.
Notes:
- The Bruins are making their eighth-straight appearance in the NAIA Men's Basketball Division II National Tournament.
- Bellevue is 5-2 in second round games
- The Bruins own a 16-10 all-time record in the National Tournament
- After starting the season 3-6, Bellevue has won 24 of its last 25 games.
- The Bruins have won eight-straight since losing at defending national champion Oklahoma Wesleyan, 85-69, on Feb. 6.
