March 24, 2008
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Oklahoma City University is in position to defend its NAIA national championship from last season following a 78-64 victory Monday against Campbellsville University (Ky.) in the semifinal round of the 2008 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship at Municipal Auditorium.
Oklahoma City becomes the first team since Kentucky State University in 1970-72 to advance to the NAIA title game three consecutive years, and is seeking the first NAIA Division I back-to-back championships since Life University (Ga.) accomplished the feat in 1999 and 200. The No. 7-seeded Stars are now 30-7 overall and will face No. 5 seed Mountain State University (W.Va.) in Tuesday's NAIA national championship contest. Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m. CDT. Oklahoma City defeated Concordia University (Calif.) in the 2007 NAIA championship game, 79-71.
As a team, Oklahoma City shot 54 percent for the game (27-of-50) while holding Campbellsville to just 37.5 percent from the floor (24-of-64). Monday's win was the 14th in a row for the Stars, who now hold the longest active win streak in NAIA Division I. The victory also helped Oklahoma City avenge a 76-57 loss at Campbellsville back on Nov. 24.
"The last couple of night we've been really, really good on the defensive end," said Oklahoma City head coach Ray Harper. "We held (Campbellsville) to 37 percent shooting from the field. That was a team that had beaten us by 19 earlier in the year."
Senior guard Kameron Gray and senior forward Ollie Bailey each scored a team-high 17 points, while Bailey pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds for Oklahoma City. Senior guard Ronald Taylor posted 16 points and nine rebounds, while senior forward Willie Irick connected for 14 points. Junior guard Richard Jackson came off the bench to score 12 points for the Stars.
Oklahoma City started the game on an 11-2 run over the first four minutes of play. Campbellsville responded by scoring the next seven points to pull within 11-9 at the 14:57 mark. The contest remained tight until the Stars reeled off 10 consecutive points to build a 25-13 advantage with 6:13 left in the period. Jackson scored the first five points of the outburst, while Taylor had the last five points of the run for Oklahoma City.
After holding a 35-23 lead at the intermission, Oklahoma City stretched its lead to as many as 17 points midway through the second half. Campbellsville made one final run at the Stars late in the contest, pulling within 73-64 on a basket by junior forward Deveon Jenkins with 1:13 on the clock.
"This was a great effort, no complaints," said Campbellsville head coach Keith Adkins. "We will leave here with a big smile on our face. I give our guys credit. We battled but we just didn't get the breaks."
Campbellsville, which was making its first appearance in the NAIA Fab Four, finished its season with an overall record of 29-7. Senior guard Bubba Long led all scorers with 21 points for the Tigers, while senior forward Nestor Colmenares contributed 13 points and a team-leading eight rebounds.
GAME NOTES -
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Campbellsville:
*Campbellsville was making its first-ever appearance in the NAIA Fab Four.
*The Tigers slipped to 3-1 against teams from the Sooner Athletic Conference in 2007-08.
*Campbellsville was looking to become the third unseeded team in the last four years to win the NAIA Division I Championship.
*Hector Colmenares had recorded double-doubles in every tournament game until Monday's loss.
Oklahoma City:
*The Stars will be seeking their sixth NAIA national championship.
*Oklahoma City is looking to become the first repeat champion at the NAIA Division I National Championship since Life University (Ga.) accomplished the feat in 1999 and 2000.
*The Stars will be playing in their third consecutive NAIA title game. Oklahoma City lost to Texas Wesleyan 67-65 in the 2006 final before defeating Concordia (Calif.) 79-71 in the 2007 national championship contest.
*Oklahoma City is the first team since Kentucky State (1970-72) to play in three consecutive NAIA national championship games.
*Oklahoma City has won its last nine NAIA Tournament games and 13 of its last 14 dating back to the 2006 event.
*The Stars have won 46 NAIA Tournament games, which is tied for third all-time with Central Washington.
*With Georgetown falling in the other semifinal game, Oklahoma City holds the longest active win streak in NAIA Division I at 14 games.
*Ollie Bailey has scored in double figures in each of his last 18 games.
