KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It took five minutes longer than it had hoped, but No. 7-seed University of Pikeville is heading to the quarterfinals of the NAIA Men’s Basketball National Tournament for the third time after a 97-93 overtime win against No. 10-seed Concordia (Calif.) on Friday.
Up next for the Bears is a matchup with either No. 2-seed Talladega (Ala.) or Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) at 3 p.m. ET on Saturday. UPIKE has never lost in the round of eight, winning in 2011 on the way to the national title and in 2001.
The game nearly ended in regulation.
UPIKE (28-5) had a five-point lead at the 2:12 mark after two free throws from Kenny Manigault, but the Eagles went on a 6-0 run to take an 82-81 lead on Matt Scott’s hook shot with 53 seconds remaining.
K.K. Simmons drew a foul on a baseline drive, but hit just one free throw, sending the game to overtime when May’s three missed the mark at the buzzer.
The lead changed hands seven times in the extra period with neither team going up by more than two points until Jackson Hussey sank two free throws with five seconds to play to seal the win. Martin Thomas was on the attack to try and tie it up with seven seconds on the clock but traveled to give the ball back to UPIKE.
Simmons, the nation’s leading 3-point shooter, hadn’t hit more than three treys in a game since Feb. 23. Against Concordia, he nailed six to score a game-high 28 points. Manigault added 23 points, 10 rebounds, seven steals and five assists for one of the most complete performances of the season.
Michael Eneh came up big for the second straight game of the tournament with seven points and 10 rebounds in just 24 minutes. Still, UPIKE was outrebounded 46-37, but made up for it by outshooting the Eagles 47.1 to 42 percent.
With both teams shooting under 70 percent from the free-throw line, threes told more of the story as Concordia made 12 on 33 attempts, while UPIKE went 9 of 13 for a season-high 69.2 percent.
Scott paced Concordia (27-8) with 24 points and Justin Davis chipped in with 13. Stephen Grosey finished with 16 rebounds.
Starting off right where he left off, Eneh provided instant energy for the Bears with an offensive board and put back, followed by a monster slam that led to a 6-0 start. Concordia didn’t stay down for long though, scoring the next 10 points.
After a three-minute drought, Simmons ended the Eagles’ run with a corner jumper to bring the early deficit to two. But after the make, momentum swung Concordia’s way again, hitting three 3-pointers and making two free throws after a delay-of-game technical on the Bears to lead by nine with10:41 left in the half.
Down nine, the Bears countered with a 17-0 run over four minutes to grab a 31-23 advantage. Things evened up from there as Concordia clawed back with seven straight points, forcing UPIKE to take a timeout with 5:21 on the clock.
After the Bears led by as many as eight points and Concordia enjoyed a lead of nine in the first half, the Eagles took a 42-39 lead into halftime.
The second-half started perfectly for UPIKE as it scored four quick points to retake the lead. However, like the first 20 minutes, the lead didn’t last as Concordia outscored the Bears 9-1 at one point to take its largest lead yet at 56-46.
In less than a minute, the Bears had scored six unanswered points, then kept chopping away at the deficit for the next four minutes until a three from Manigault had it back on top 61-60. It was a 15-5 spurt for the Bears that eventually led to them taking a seven-point lead at 79-72.
Concordia didn’t let things get out of hand though, scoring four unanswered points to keep things close for the rest of regulation.
