OAKLAND CITY, IN - Spring Arbor University Men's Basketball team will play for its third NCCAA National Championship in seven years tomorrow after a narrow 66-64 victory over #3 seed King College (CA). They will take on the winner of #1 seed Dallas Baptist University and #4 seed Roberts Wesleyan.
The Cougars (20-14) once again were led by senior DJ Baisden's 22 points and senior Willie Pickvet's 17 points and 9 rebounds. Pickvet's 9 rebounds made him the 19th player in Spring Arbor University history to haul in 600 or more rebounds in a career.
The win over King College (18-15) did not start out like Head Coach Ryan Cottingham had game planned for, as the Cougars were down 0-15 after the first three minutes. But Spring Arbor went on a 16-3 run of their own over the next eight minutes to cut the lead to 2 points (16-18). Spring Arbor would hold a 31-25 lead going into the break.
The game had its share of drama towards the end with Spring Arbor leading 63-59 with 0:21 to go after DJ Baisden hit one of two free throws. King's Clarence Smith hit a jumper with 15 seconds left to cut the lead to two points (63-61).
All season long, Spring Arbor was one of the country's best free throw shooting teams and as it usually does in big games, free throws made the difference down the stretch. DJ Baisden hit both ends of a one and one to give the Cougars a four point lead (65-61) which ultimately gave Spring Arbor the points it would need for the victory. King College forward Mark Dockery hit a long 3-pointer with 5 seconds remaining to cut the margin to one point (65-64). But Chris Bellamy would make one of two free throws to complete the scoring at 66-64.
The Championship will be played at 8:00 Saturday night in Oakland City, IN.
