THE BASICS
NAIA National Championship Round of 32
Score: #12 Madonna University 68, #22 Indiana University Kokomo 70
Records: Madonna (25-9), IU Kokomo (27-7)
Location: Stanford Pentagon - Sioux Falls, S.D.
Turning Point: Cougars and-1 with 10 seconds to play
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - The 12th-ranked and fourth-seeded Madonna University men's basketball team saw its historic season come to an end on Wednesday night inside the Sanford Pentagon in a 70-68 loss to 22nd-ranked and fifth-seeded Indiana University Kokomo.
The Crusaders, who finish the season 25-9, tied for the most wins in program history, had a chance to send the game to overtime in the final seconds, but Mark Mettie's game-tying layup rimmed out as time expired.
"We never were able to find our rhythm throughout the course of the game," said Madonna University Head Coach Noel Emenhiser. "Foul trouble forced us to play a little differently than we would have hoped, but our guys battled and gave everything they had to give the team an opportunity to win down the stretch."
The 6-foot-10 sophomore from Livonia finished with 12 points and 14 rebounds, his team-leading eighth double-double of the season. Dwight Burton tallied a team-high 17 points, Henry Speight added 16 points and four rebounds while Joshua Reynolds netted 10 points. Caleb Drumm finished with seven in his last game as a Crusader. Akil McClain led the Cougars with 16 points as four players finished in double-figures.
The Kokomo, Indiana program was aggressive at the rim throughout the night and caused foul trouble for Madonna as Reynolds picked up three early in the first half and Burton and Speight each had four for most of the contest. The free throw differential was the difference in the contest as the Cougars converted 22-of-26 (84.6%) attempts from the charity stripe while MU finished 12-of-17 (70.6%). The two teams were nearly even in every other category.
After trading the lead for the first four minutes of the first half, the Cougars seemed to take control as they used a 15-4 run to take their largest lead of the half, 27-19, with 6:22 to play in the period. Four points from Burton, three from Speight and two from Caleb Drumm cut the deficit to one, 29-28, at the 3:58 mark and the Blue and Gold ground out the first half to trail by two, 36-34, at the break.
A Reynolds free throw and Burton 3-pointer seemed to spark the Crusaders out of the half, but IU Kokomo quickly responded to take back the lead and the teams traded baskets until 8:26 to play. That's when MU's offense went cold and the Cougars used a 10-2 run to build a 64-55 lead. A Reynolds three stopped the run, but Kokomo made the next three to extend the margin back to nine with 3:07 left. A pair of Burton free throws followed by a Mettie slam off a great feed from Reynolds and three free throws from the latter cut the margin to two, 67-65, with 1:05 to play.
After a turnover by Kokomo gave MU possession with 25 seconds left, Drumm drilled a 3-point to give MU the lead. 68-67, but Trequan Spivey converted an and-1 at the other end with 10 seconds on the clock. Madonna executed a perfect press break to get Mettie a decent look in the lane as time expired, but the ball rimmed out.
"After we took the lead, I should have called timeout to set the defense and protect our guys that had four fouls, it was a critical mistake. I am disappointed that I was not able to better guide our team through the adversity that we faced tonight," added Emenhiser.
It brought to an abrupt end what was an incredible season for the Blue and Gold that saw the programs second-ever Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Tournament Championship, the first-ever back-to-back NAIA National Tournament appearances and the highest tournament seed in program history.
"I am so grateful for the opportunity to coach and spend time with this team. We have had so many incredible memories and moments both on and off the court this year. I could not be more proud of what this team has done, capturing a WHAC tournament title on our home court to complete a vision we laid out four years ago," said Emenhiser on the season.
The team broke numerous program records this season which include points (2,841), field goals made (1,006), attempted (2,077) and percentage (.484), 3-point field goals made (301) and attempted (816), free throw percentage (.738), defensive rebounds (950) and total rebounds (1,293). The also finished with the second-most blocks in a single season with 139.
Individually, Burton wrapped up the greatest offensive season in program history with records for points scored (788) and points per game (23.2) as well as field goals made (279) and attempted (552). He and Reynolds will go down as two of the best scorers in program history as Reynolds finishes his career fifth all-time in scoring with 1,611 points in 97 games while Burton totaled 1,519 in 67 career games to rank sixth in program history. Inside, Mettie finished the season with 70 blocks which rank third all-time to Eoghann Stephens' 100 (2012-13) and Geoff Gaylor's 72 (2010-11).
The loss ends the collegiate careers for five seniors: Burton, Reynolds, Drumm, Juwan Hampton, and KJ Sayer. We thank each one of them for their dedication to the Madonna Men's Basketball program. Burton and Reynolds will each don the uniform one more time in Kansas City, Missouri for the NABC-NAIA All-Star game and the Shoot & Slam competition.
Emenhiser added, "these seniors brought a new level of play and recognition to the Madonna Men's Basketball program. KJ, Caleb, Josh, Dwight and Juwan, along with our underclassmen and this incredible coaching staff filled the gym with fans and excitement every game. They impacted the community and the university in a special way that will never be forgotten and the best is yet to come. These young men will go out into the world and continue to make a difference with each person they meet and our underclassmen will continue to build on the tradition of excellence that we have created."
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