#1 Oilers Advance To Final Four
The University of Findlay men's basketball team, ranked first in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) poll, came from behind to defeat second ranked Long Island University – C.W. Post 89-79 in overtime on Wednesday, March 25 to advance to the Final Four of the NCAA Division II Tournament.
Junior guard Marcus Parker got the Oilers off to a hot start by scoring the first eight points of the game to give Findlay an 8-0 advantage at the 18:03 mark of the first half.
After a timeout, the Pioneers went wild from three point range as they eventually led by as many 13 points at 43-30 when Kenny Burkes scored down low.
Findlay kept chipping away despite a 9-of-18 (50%) showing by C.W. Post from the three point line and eventually cut the lead to eight at 45-37 when Parker drained a triple as the first half buzzer sounded.
Senior All-American forward Josh Bostic, who was tabbed the NCAA Division II National Player of the Year on Tuesday, scored the first points of the second half which got the Oilers rolling.
After a three by Parker and a dunk by senior center Lee Roberts, Bostic canned a jumper to tie the game at 48-48 with 16:10 to play in the second period.
Both teams would then trade leads back and forth until Roberto Macklin connected on a lay-up to put the Pioneers in front by a score of 67-62 with 8:35 showing on the clock.
Needing a basket, senior guard Tyler Evans stepped up and drilled a triple but Post answered with another basket from Macklin which was followed by a jumper from senior forward Morgan Lewis.
Down by two at 69-67 with 7:01 left, Roberts scored nine straight points for the Oilers to give them a 76-74 advantage with only 45 ticks remaining in regulation.
A stop by the Oilers defense and a foul by the Pioneers put Lewis at the line where he split a pair of free throws to make the score 77-74 with 31 ticks left. Kevin Spann quickly changed the score on the ensuing possession however as he hit a long triple to send the game into overtime.
In overtime, Roberts picked up where he left off by scoring the opening bucket which was followed by a lay-up from the Pioneers Kenny Burkes. Evans then made a pair from the charity stripe before Lewis scored in the paint to give Findlay an 83-79 lead with 2:26 left in the overtime period.
Up by four, Lewis scored on a tip-in before senior guard Aaron Laflin split a pair of free throws to make the score 86-79. Bostic then hit two free throws and Evans made one in the final 42 seconds to seal the victory for Findlay.
As a team, the Oilers shot 54.1 percent (33-of-61) from the floor and hit 9-of-24 (37.5%) three point tries. In comparison, the Pioneers were 31-of-68 (45.6%) from the field which included a 14-of-37 (37.8%) showing from behind the three point line.
Roberts led the team with a career-high 23 points on 10-of-13 shooting. He also added seven rebounds in the win which improved the Oilers record to 34-0 on the season.
Parker added 19 points, five rebounds and five assists while Bostic racked up 18 points and eight boards.
Evans came off the bench to score 12 points with four assists, three steals and two rebounds in 30 minutes of action while Lewis chipped in 11 points and four boards.
The Pioneers were led by Kevin Spann's 20 points and seven assists.
The Oilers will be back in action again tomorrow on Thursday, March 26 when they face Central Missouri University at 8:30 p.m. in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Central Missouri reached the Final Four by defeating Gannon University 86-77.
The Oilers game against Central Missouri will be shown live on CBS Sports Network. The winner of the game will then play for the National Championship on Saturday, March 28 which will be shown live on CBS at 1:00 p.m.