#1 Oilers Head To National Championship Game
The University of Findlay men's basketball team, ranked first in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) poll, defeated the University of Central Missouri 67-65 on Thursday, March 26 in Springfield, Massachusetts to advance to the 2009 NCAA Division II National Championship game for the first time in school history.
The Oilers trailed the majority of the first half as they committed seven turnovers and gave up seven offensive rebounds to the sixth ranked Mules. Still, Findlay was able to enter the break down only five points at 32-27.
In the second half, the Oilers fought their way back to a tie at 35-35 but remained cold from the field as the Mules heated up. Still, Findlay hung in there as senior guards Tyler Evans and Aaron Laflin hit three's to keep the game close before Evans gave the Oilers a 54-53 lead on a running jumper with just over seven minutes to play in the game.
A jumper by the Mules' Sanijay Watts and a free throw by De'Andre Byrd put Central Missouri up 56-54 with 5:55 to play but All-American senior forward Josh Bostic hit a jumper in the lane to tie the game at 56 apiece on the ensuing possession.
Bostic then gave Findlay a 58-56 advantage with 5:01 left before Central Missouri's Joe Young hit a couple of free throws to tie the game at 58-58.
Tied for the sixth time, senior forward Morgan Lewis connected on a lay-up and senior center Lee Roberts drained a few free throws to give the Oilers a 62-58 lead with only 3:27 left in the contest.
The Mules then got a three point play by Watts to trim the Findlay lead to one and took the lead at 65-62 after a jumper by Watts and a tip-in by Young.
Trailing 65-62 with 1:39 showing on the clock, Bostic split a pair at the charity stripe. Findlay's defense then held strong and the Oilers offense got a spark when junior guard Marcus Parker connected on a triple from deep in the corner to give the Oilers a 66-65 lead with only 43 ticks left.
Leading by one, sophomore guard Nathan Hyde split a pair of free throws with 13 seconds remaining and Bostic missed two from the line with just over one second to play giving the Mules and opportunity to win the game. A desperation heave as the buzzer sounded missed everything however as the Oilers claimed the victory and improved to 35-0 on the year.
As a team, Findlay shot 45.1 percent (23-of-51) from the floor and grabbed 16 offensive rebounds in the game.
Bostic led the way with 19 points, six rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block while Lewis recorded 16 points and 11 boards.
Evans came off the bench to score eight points while Roberts had six points and eight rebounds.
The Mules were led by Watts' 18 points.
The Oilers will now compete for the national championship on Saturday, March 28 in Springfield, Massachusetts. The event is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. inside the MassMutual Center and will be shown live on CBS.