Men's Basketball

Date: 21.03.2010

Age: 166 days

OAKLAND CITY, Ind. - King College led for a large portion, but the top-seed was defeated 58-54 by sixth-seeded Northwestern (Minn.) College in the 2010 NCCAA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship game Saturday.

King's season came to an end with a record of 23-6 and as national runner up. Northwestern had a 22-7 record as the team defeated the No. 1, No. 2 (Mid-Continent University) and No. 3 (Mid-American Christian University) seeds in the national tournament.

The game was tied at 49 with 4:38 to go. Eric Garst hit a three to give Northwestern a lead. From there King could not come any closer down the stretch. In the final 4:38, King went 2-for-8 from the field. Northwestern was 3-for-6 and 4-for-4 at the line in the closing moments.

Clarence Smith (Nashville, Tenn.) led King with 15 points. Mark Dockery (Nickelsville, Va.) had 11 points and Stephen Kite (Atlanta, Ga.) added 10.

The second half saw King lead by as many as 11 early in the half.

Four straight Northwestern points forced a King time out with 15:34 left in the half and the Tornado trailed 9-5. A three pointer from Dockery with 11:45 to go in the first tied the game at 10.

Jason Seymore (Powell, Tenn.) hit a long range three pointer with 9:50 showing on the clock to end a dry spell and give the Tornado the 13-10 lead.

King went on a spurt to lead by as many as nine. However back-to-back backets by Northwestern made the score 22-18 with a minute left in the first, but the Tornado added two more points before halftime for a 24-18 advantage.

A Kite three pointer gave King a 34-27 lead with 15:01 left in the game slowing down a Northwestern spurt. The Eagles eventually got within two, 34-32, but Brian Hewitt (Lexington, Ky.) intercepted a pass and took it down for a lay up. He ended the game with eight points.

Wade Chitwood drained a three pointer from the left side in front of the Northwestern bench with 8:05 left in the game and it put the sixth seed up 44-43. Tom Gisler added another three on the Eagles' next possession.

Hewitt laid in two points with 5:05 left to put King back in front 49-47.

Brian Lecheler had a team-best 15 points for Northwestern with 11 points by Reid Berens.

The Tornado finished the game 21-for-59 (35.6 percent) from the floor and Northwestern was 20-for-47 (42.6 percent). Nine of Northwestern's baskets were threes and King made five. Both teams attempted a dozen free throws, King made seven and Northwestern made nine.

The battle for rebounds was won by Northwestern, 39-27. In games where the opponent grabbed more rebounds, King was 6-3.

The Tornado forced 20 turnovers and it was the 15th time this season an opponent had 20 or more turnovers in a game.

The 54 points by King are the fewest scored this season by the Tornado offense. It was the fifth game in the 50s for King and the Tornado dropped all three games. The fewest King points in a win during the season was 62 against the University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) in December.

In King's only other game against a NCAA Division III foe this season, the Tornado won at Emory & Henry (Va.) College 113-108 on Jan. 4.