POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. – The Cinderella team of the 2010 NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball National Championship is alive and well as #15 Saint Francis (Ind.) upended defending champion Oklahoma Wesleyan 77-73. The Cougars advance to their first national title game where they will take on top-seeded Walsh (Ohio). The 2010 event is being played at the Keeter Gymnasium on the campus of College of the Ozarks (Mo.).
Qadr Owens led Saint Francis with 25 points, 19 coming in the second half, while teammate DeJovaun Sawyer-Davis netted 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
Like they had in the three previous rounds, sixth-seeded Oklahoma Wesleyan came out of the gate firing as they opened up a 9-4 lead. The Cougars, however, responded right back and took the lead moments later on a three-pointer by Austin Leisure. With the score still in the Cougars favor (21-20), Oklahoma Wesleyan erupted for seven straight points on the way to a 20-6 run to take the largest lead of the night, 40-27 with three minutes to go. Steve Briggs, the State Farm/NAIA Player-of-the-Year, hit on a pair of three-pointers to spark the Eagles. With the game in balance, St. Francis held OWU scoreless the rest of the way and Sawyer-Davis keyed a 12-0 run with eight points to make it a one-point game at the half.
“That’s what they do, hit those three-pointers and it can go from a tie game to a 9-to-12 point game in a hurry,” commented Saint Francis head coach Jeff Rekeweg. “We felt that if we stick to our game plan and make them take shots we wanted them to take, it would work out in our favor.”
A jumper by a Owens to begin the second half put St. Francis back in the lead by one and the game remained tight the rest of the way. The two opposing guards, Owens for St. Francis and Briggs for OWU, traded baskets for a thrilling four-minute stretch and after a basket by Owens with 4:25 left, Saint Francis led 62-60. They would never trail again. A three-point play by Briggs later would tie it at 66 but the Cougars surged ahead for good with a 6-0 run (72-66) with under a minute to go, making just enough free throws to preserve the win. The Eagles missed seven straight three-pointers down the stretch before Murray Shaw banked one in during the final seconds.
Saint Francis shot 44% for the game but stayed with one of the top rebounding teams in the NAIA, outrebounded by a slim 45-42 margin. Austin Leisure was the third Cougars player in double figures with 14 off the bench.
“We are fortunate that a couple shots at the end did not fall for them,” added Rekeweg. “What I’m most proud of about the way we played was that they got very few offensive rebounds compared to what they usually do.”
“We had to take it one play at a time, one stop at a time and just chip away. We felt better at halftime down just one,” commented junior DeJovaun Sawyer-Davis. “All that matters is that we are still playing.”
Oklahoma Wesleyan was led by Briggs, who closed his outstanding career with 36 points, seven shy off the all-time tournament record held by Brandon Woudstra (Northwestern). He finished with 315 in 11 tournament games. Sadiel Rojas recorded another double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Rojas ranks fifth all-time with 118 rebounds. The Eagles shot 41% from the field but shot well below their season average from beyond the arc, making just 22%. They end the season with a 30-5 record.