Point Lookout, Mo. - York College played the upset role for the second year in a row as they beat 2 seed Rochester College 85-75 in the first round of the NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Championship Thursday night. Keith Mack (JR/Chicago, Ill) and Cameron Coleman(SR/Allen, Texas) led the Panthers with 21 points apiece. Both players shot over 64% from the field, including Mack's 3-of-4 from beyond the arc.
The Panthers shot 53% in the first half and used a 6-0 run to end the half with a 44-35 lead. Coleman led all scorers with 14 points followed by Mack with 10. York's defense led the way forcing 11 turnovers and turning those into 20 points.
York controlled the first half but was unable to pull away from a tough Rochester
College. York led by as many as 10 building a 20-10 lead before back-to-back threes
from Rochester pulled the game within four.
Rochester was able to take their second lead of the ball game with just under seven minutes remaining in the half before the Panthers' Kameron Malbrough (FR/Arlington, Texas) hit a deep three-point basket to make it 32-29. York used a 6-0 run to finish out the half to go into the break leading 44-35.
The contest saw a 45 minute break due to a tornado warning in the vicinity. The break looked like it might be an advantage for Rochester allowing their lack of depth to get rested against the up tempo offense of the Panthers. However, York came out ready to play and went on a 9-2 run to pull ahead by 16. Just as the Panthers looked to be in control Rochester stayed alive as Angelo Griffis scored the next seven points to bring the Warriors back within 10.
Over the next six minutes of play York would maintain their lead and not allow the Warriors to gain any ground. With less than a minute to go Rochester crawled back to a two-possession ball game, but the Panthers forced some stops and made their free throws to go back up by double digits.
York shot 51% from the field for the game and allowed the Warriors to shoot just 41%. Both teams shot 28% from beyond the arc.
Mark Dean (JR/Denver, Colo) and Johnny Cooksey (SR/Shreveport, La) each added 11 points, while Drelan Tripplett (JR/Oklahoma City, Okla) added 10 as the fifth player for the Panthers to score in double figures.
York improves to 25-9 on the season and will face (6) Bellevue Friday afternoon with a 4 p.m. tip off. This was just the third loss on the year for the Warriors and they were ranked 6th in the most recent Top 25 Coaches' Poll.
For more information on the national championship, click here. To watch the live video stream, go to NAIANetwork.com.
Rochester was able to take their second lead of the ball game with just under seven minutes remaining in the half before the Panthers' Kameron Malbrough (FR/Arlington, Texas) hit a deep three-point basket to make it 32-29. York used a 6-0 run to finish out the half to go into the break leading 44-35.
The contest saw a 45 minute break due to a tornado warning in the vicinity. The break looked like it might be an advantage for Rochester allowing their lack of depth to get rested against the up tempo offense of the Panthers. However, York came out ready to play and went on a 9-2 run to pull ahead by 16. Just as the Panthers looked to be in control Rochester stayed alive as Angelo Griffis scored the next seven points to bring the Warriors back within 10.
Over the next six minutes of play York would maintain their lead and not allow the Warriors to gain any ground. With less than a minute to go Rochester crawled back to a two-possession ball game, but the Panthers forced some stops and made their free throws to go back up by double digits.
York shot 51% from the field for the game and allowed the Warriors to shoot just 41%. Both teams shot 28% from beyond the arc.
Mark Dean (JR/Denver, Colo) and Johnny Cooksey (SR/Shreveport, La) each added 11 points, while Drelan Tripplett (JR/Oklahoma City, Okla) added 10 as the fifth player for the Panthers to score in double figures.
York improves to 25-9 on the season and will face (6) Bellevue Friday afternoon with a 4 p.m. tip off. This was just the third loss on the year for the Warriors and they were ranked 6th in the most recent Top 25 Coaches' Poll.
For more information on the national championship, click here. To watch the live video stream, go to NAIANetwork.com.