Kansas City, MO -
Bubba Long (SR/Owensboro, KY) scored a game high 29 points as the unseeded Campbellsville University Tigers knocked off 6th seeded Concordia University of California 72-63 today in the first round of the Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship. With three games remaining in the first round, the Tigers win is the biggest upset thus far in the NAIA Tournament.
Campbellsville shot 75% in the second half after leading 33-24 at halftime. Concordia would battle back to tie the game four times in the second half, but a basket by
Deveon Jenkins (JR/Chicago, IL) put Campbellsville up 57-55 at the 7:29 mark and the Tigers would never trail again in securing the win and advancing to the NAIA Tournament second round for the third straight year.
"It's a big win for our program and the Mid-South Conference," said C.U. Head Coach Keith Adkins after the game. "We did a good job defending them. We felt the key was denying the three point shot as they average 10 made three's per game. We held them to 6 of 19 from the three and just 40% overall," he added.
Campbellsville also got a big game out of
Nestor Colmenares (JR/Caracas, Venezuela). The 6'7 forward scored 26 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. "Just an All-American type performance," said Adkins about Colmenares game. "In these kind of situations you expect your main players to step up and Bubba and Nestor both did that, plus we got a solid contribution from
Clinton Joshua (SR/Jennings, Antigua) with 10 points and
Jordan Benock (SO/Battletown, KY) with seven rebounds," said Adkins.
The Tigers now advance to the Sweet 16 where they'll battle 11th seeded McKendree (IL) University. "Now we will play a tough, gritty McKendree team coached by Harry Statham who has 965 career wins. He is an icon in college basketball coaching and we'll be honored to share the same court with them," said Adkins.
Tip-off is scheduled for 3:15 p.m. eastern time on Friday in Kansas City. All games are being played at Municipal Auditorium.
