Tiger Twosome Too Much for Eagles, 72-63

Box Score 

(3/20/08 - Men's Basketball) KANSAS CITY, Mo. – For just the second time in program history, #6-seeded Concordia will not win its opening round game on the national level, dropping a 72-63 first round game to unseeded Campbellsville, Thursday afternoon at the 2008 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Men’s Basketball National Championship inside the Municipal Auditorium.

These same two teams played in the second round of the 2007 national event in a high-paced game. In that contest, the Eagles got 23 points from Rafael Da Silva en route to a 83-72 victory during the run to the national championship game.

One season and 369 days later, the win-or-go-home stakes were the same, but the outcome was much different for the Eagles. Despite battling back from a double-digit deficit near the end of the first half, the Eagles were unable to stop the two-headed monster of Nestor Colmenares and Bubba Long.

The Tiger duo combined for 55 points on 18-of-27 shooting from the field. Long hit 4-of-7 three-point attempts in the first half, including a stretch of three-straight early on to build a 14-9 advantage. While Long torched the Eagles on the perimeter, Colmenares used a strong, skilled inside game to tally 13 of his 25 points while pulling down a game-high 15 rebounds.

Despite a 40 percent shooting performance in the first half and a 24-13 rebound deficit, the Eagles were still within striking distance at the break. Trailing 30-17, Josh Kramer made a turnaround in the lane, then Ryan Read hit a three-pointer to trim it to seven before going to the intermission trailing by nine. 

A team known for its guts and heat, the Eagles came out strong and had the game tied up less than five minutes into the second stanza. Kramer hit short jumpers on both ends of a 8-0 run after trailing 38-30 to set the teams even with 15:46 to play.

Though Campbellsville (24-9) edged ahead, the Eagles stayed within striking distance and were tied up once again at 55-55 after Terrence Worthy drove the lane for a floater with 7:51 to play. The next 1:26 of the game, however, proved to be the Eagles’ undoing.

Deveon Jenkins answered the Worthy bucket with a short jumper of his own for a 57-55 lead. Worthy was off the mark on a pair of short attempts and Clinton Joshua was fouled after rebounding a missed three-pointer.

Joshua made the first free throw, but a missed second attempt was corralled by Colmenares. He worked the ball back out and Long picked out Joshua for another short jumper to build a five-point cushion.

Though Worthy answered with a three-pointer on the next trip down, Concordia was never able to pull back within a bucket. Long drilled a three of his own as the Tigers managed to stretch the lead to 68-59 with 1:19 to go. Read drilled a three-pointer from the wing to make it a six-point game with 45 seconds left, but that would be the last field goal of the season.

Worthy led the way for Concordia (28-5) with 19 points, hitting 6-of-12 from the field and 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. Read added 13 points, but was just 4-of-12 shooting and 3-of-11 from three-point range in his final collegiate game. Kramer finished his Eagle career with a solid individual game, hitting 6-of-8 field goals for 12 points. Joe Roberson pulled down a season-high 12 rebounds, but the Eagles struggled to a 44-26 deficit on the glass.