EMMANUEL 73, TREVECCA NAZARENE 66 WINONA LAKE – The sixth-seeded Emmanuel College kicked off the 2012 NCCAA Basketball Championships with a bang, upsetting No. 3 Trevecca Nazarene 73-66 to advance to the national semifinals on Thursday. Isaiah Tyus gave the Lions (20-15) their first lead of the game with a 3-pointer five minutes into the game, and Emmanuel never trailed after that point. The Lions entered the halftime break with a 32-27 advantage and quickly saw their lead shrink to two points a few minutes into the second half, but Emmanuel refused to surrender the lead. The Trojans (20-12) trailed by as many as 12 points in the final period before a late 6-0 spurt brought the team to within five at 70-65 with 1:04 to play. Trevecca ran out of steam, however, and could only muster a single free throw over the final 64 seconds of action. Five players registered double-digit scoring for Emmanuel, led by Asmatiek Fields's 15 points and Jeremy Burgess's 14 points. Trevecca was paced by 16 points from Michael France. Marquise Rudolph neared a triple-double performance with 10 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists.
HOPE INT'L 63, DALLAS BAPTIST 58 WINONA LAKE – No. 7 Hope International University continued the upset trend of the opening day of the 2012 NCCAA Basketball Championships by taking down the second-seeded Dallas Baptist University 63-58. The Royals (12-16) were fueled by the performance of Kris Rosales and his 22 points. Despite committing only eight turnovers, the Patriots (18-14) were plagued by poor shooting throughout the game. Overall, Dallas Baptist hit just 29 percent of their shots from the field, including a 6-of-23 performance from beyond the arc (26 percent). Hope International controlled play in the first half, leading by as many as 15 points. Dallas Baptist recovered, however, thanks to nine straight points early in the second half to take their first lead of the game at 39-37. The teams battled back-and-forth down the stretch until a 3-pointer from Dallas Baptist's Jordan McGowen with 56 seconds remaining cut Hope's lead to 59-58. Rosales found Ryan Ebel for a bucket in the paint on Hope's next possession, however, and Rosales iced the win with two free throws to conclude the scoring. Rosales added 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 0 turnovers to his 22 points, and Steve Jurich added 20 points and nine rebounds for the Royals. Nick Fox led the Patriots' effort with 22 points and 10 boards.
SW ASSEMBLIES 80, THE MASTER'S 73 (OT) WINONA LAKE – In one of the most exciting games on the first day of the 2012 NCCAA Basketball Championships, No. 4 Southwestern Assemblies of God University closed out an 80-73 overtime victory against No. 5 The Master's College. The Lions (24-9) outscored The Master's 12-5 in the extra session to earn a spot in the semifinals on Friday night at 8:45 p.m. against either No. 1 Cedarville or No. 8 Truett-McConnell. Southwestern Assemblies seemed well on its way to a win when they built up a 32-18 lead midway through the first half. But the Mustangs (19-15) showed their mettle by ending the half on a 16-4 run to close the gap to 36-34 at the break. The second half was neck-and-neck over the final 10 minutes of action. Neither team led by more than three points as the score was tied six times over that period. Craig Grigsby nearly won the game in regulation for the Lions when he converted an old-fashioned 3-point play to give Southwestern Assemblies a 68-66 lead with 15 seconds to play. But the Mustangs' Anthony Cammon hit a tough shot with 3.5 seconds on the clock to level the score, and the Lions were unable to get off a shot on their final possession of the second half. The overtime period was all Southwestern Assemblies as four free throws and a 3-pointer gave the Lions all the breathing room they needed. The Lions earned a major advantage at the free throw line when they converted nearly 70 percent of their attempts in the second half and overtime period. The Mustangs, on the other hand, struggled to just 4-of-10 from the charity stripe all game. Dominique Rambo poured in a game-high 20 points with six assists for the Lions. Christian Wood also added 11 points and eight boards off the bench. Chris Patureau recorded a double-double for the Mustangs with 17 points and 10 boards.
CEDARVILLE 88, TRUETT-MCCONNELL 68 WINONA LAKE – Top-seeded Cedarville University proved its No. 1 ranking by blowing past No. 8 Truett-McConnell in the second half for an 88-68 victory in the first day of the NCCAA National Championships. The Yellow Jackets (21-9) led by four at the break but turned up their offense in the second half with 53 points, outscoring Truett-McConnell 53-37 in the final 20 minutes. Cedarville's major run in the second half was a 12-0 spurt midway through the period to open up a 20-point lead with 12 minutes to play. The Bears (14-20) were unable to gather a serious charge at Cedarville's lead after that point. Truett-McConnell's Anthony Dorsey turned in the high point total of the first day with 30 points on 4-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc. Bernard Nugent also tallied 14 points, 4 assists and 6 steals in the loss. Cedarville was led by 21 points, including 11-of-13 from the free throw line, by Zimmy Nwogbo, and 12 points from Austin Foote.
