KANSAS CITY, Missouri – (Box Score) Top-seeded Hope International (Calif.) escaped with a 70-67 victory over unseeded WVU Tech (W.Va.) Wednesday at the 2015 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship from Municipal Auditorium. WVU Tech guard Eddie Gordon's 3-pointer at the buzzer clanged off the backboard and only then, could the Royals breathe a sigh of relief. Hope International advances to the second round to face the winner of No. 16 Benedictine (Kan.) and Montana Western on Friday at 6:15 p.m. CDT.
Hope International, holding the No. 1 seed for the first time in program history, was looking to improve to 3-0 in first round championship games. At the start, the Royals led by as many as seven in the first half – 16-9 – at the 13:22 mark. A Matt Green triple capped off the spurt as he had seven points in the early going.
The Bears, who finished second at the Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.) tournament, came back to take a 29-26 lead at the half. Sharife Sergeant put up 10 points in the first 20 minutes to help the offensive display.
One minute into the second half, a three-pointer and jumper sent the Golden Bears to their largest lead of the game, 34-26. After a Hope International timeout, the Royals went on an 11-2 run to take a 37-36 lead.
The game stayed within two possessions from that point on. With the score tied at 59-59 with 4:42 remaining, Garrett Neilan's jumper gave Hope International a lead it would never give back.
Gordon narrowed to gap to one point with a 3-pointer with 4.7 seconds remaining. However, the Golden Bears were forced to foul and Green sunk both free throw attempts before Gordon's final 3-point shot at the buzzer.
"At the free throw line in the closing seconds, it was a little tough but I knew I had to make those free throws to secure the win," said Green about those late clutch free throws. "I just came up there with confidence and just tried to stay poised as much as possible and thankfully I was able to knock both of them down."
In the second half, the top two scorers for Hope International – Green and Kenny Morgan – got their offensive game going. Held to just three first-half points, Morgan put in 14 points in the second frame. Green finished with a team-best 20 points on 5-of-15 shooting. Neilan chipped in 15 points. Carlton Hayes controlled the glass with 12 rebounds.
"We felt real fortunate to come out with this one," said Hope International Head Coach Bill Czech. "WVU Tech is a very tough, physical, and aggressive team. We communicated well and came through some adverse situations with Kenny Morgan getting in foul trouble and Matt Green turning his ankle in the first half. I was proud of our guys.
"We are going to try and keep this rolling for all the people back at Hope. We appreciate all the support."
WVU Tech was trying to become the first unseeded team to take down the No. 1 seed in the First Round since 2009. The Golden Bears proved a toughness that saw them win seven of their final 10 games on the year.
Sergeant led all scorers with 21 points, which included a 9-of-10 effort from the foul line. Leon Cooper Jr., came away with 14 points and six assists.
Both teams struggled shooting the ball, with WVU Tech at 36.5 percent and Hope International at 40.0 percent.
WVU Tech was appearing in its first national championship since 1988 and ends the year at 23-10.
Game Notes
Hope International – Is making its third appearance in the national tournament… Improves to 3-2 in the postseason and 3-0 all-time in first round contests… Today marks the sixth win this year after trailing at the half… Extends season win streak to nine-straight contests… Leading scorer Matt Green tallied 20 points, which was three points over his season average… Carlton Hayes tallied 12 total rebounds, which ties his season high, accomplished against Vanguard (Calif.) earlier this year.
WVU Tech – Making first championship appearance since 1988 and falls to 0-4 all-time in the event… Previous three championship losses were by an average of 9.3 points… Entered the game No. 2 in the NAIA in both rebounding (44.6) and rebounding margin (+11.3) -- tonight, the Golden Bears were plus-two in rebounding and tallied 39 total boards… Coming into the game, Jauries Thomas ranked No. 3 in the NAIA in rebounding (11.6) -- with nine boards tonight, it marked just the ninth time this year (in 32 games) that Thomas did not record 10-or-more rebounds… With 14 points, Leon Cooper Jr., extended his 10-plus scoring streak to six-straight games… The Golden Bears were the final At-Large team (No. 16) in the championship field of 32… Thomas finished the game with seven points – the last game that he was held under 10 points was in the 77-63 win against Fisher (Mass.) on Jan. 17 – a span of 12 games.
