March 22, 2008
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - No. 7 Oklahoma City University rounded out the field for the NAIA Fab Four with an 86-66 victory Saturday against No. 2 Lee University in a quarterfinal game of the 2008 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship at Municipal Auditorium.
Senior guard Kameron Gray recorded the first triple-double of this year's tournament with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, while senior forward Ollie Bailey led all scorers with 27 points to lead the Stars to their third consecutive berth in the national semifinals. Oklahoma City posted its 13th win in a row to move to 29-7 on the year. The Stars will take on unseeded Campbellsville University (Ky.) in the semifinal round of the national tournament Monday at 8:45 p.m. CST.
By advancing to the NAIA Fab Four, Oklahoma City keeps its hopes of back-to-back national championships alive. The Stars won the 2007 title, which was their fifth in school history. Oklahoma City has won the most national championships of any team currently playing NAIA Division I men's basketball.
Oklahoma City took command of the game with a 34-9 run over the first 13:45 of play. The Stars had runs of 10 and 14 consecutive points during the decisive stretch. Oklahoma City eventually built a 30-point bulge on its way to a 45-17 halftime lead. The Stars shot 56 percent in the opening period (15-of-28) while holding Lee to just 15.6 percent from floor (5-of-32).
Lee battled back in the later stages of the second half, pulling within 74-60 on a three-pointer by senior guard Kellen Pickel with 4:20 remaining. But Oklahoma City was able to hold on down the stretch to preserve the victory.
Senior forward Willie Irick added 14 points for Oklahoma City, while junior guard Richard Jackson came off the bench to post 11 points, three assists and a game-high five steals.
The Flames had their 13-game win streak snapped with Saturday's loss. Junior guard Elmar Kuli-Zade paced Lee with 18 points, four assists and three steals. Junior forward Harold Griffin chipped in with 14 points and a team-high seven rebounds, while senior guard Brad Harris notched 10 points. Lee finished the season with an overall record of 33-2.
GAME NOTES -
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Oklahoma City:
*Stars advance to third consecutive NAIA Fab Four and seventh in program history. All have come since 1991.
*OCU reached the national title games in 2006 and 2007, winning last year's game vs. Concordia (Calif.) 79-71
*Oklahoma City has won five NAIA national championships, the most of any program in Division I
*Looking to become the first NAIA team to win back-to-back titles since Life University (Ga.) in 1999 and 2000
Lee:
*Reached the NAIA quarterfinal round for the first time in school history
*Posted win streak of 20 and 13 games during the 2007-08 season
