LANGSTON, Okla. – On Tuesday night, the seventh-seeded No. 22 Southwestern College men's basketball team made the trip to their regional site in Langston, Okla. for the first round of the NAIA Men's Basketball Championship tournament. In their opening tilt of the event, the Builders were tasked with beating the No. 10-seeded Red Raiders of Northwestern College (Iowa). After looking as if they had a comfortable grasp on the game for the majority of the bout, Southwestern surrendered their lead and trailed by five points with under four minutes left to play. A subsequent 12-0 run by SC made the difference, as they held on for an 87-82 triumph in the first round. The victory is the program's first on the national stage since the 2018-19 campaign.

After playing a particularly competitive first several minutes of the opening half, the Moundbuilders were able to open up a lead with a 12-5 stretch over the course of nearly five minutes. The stretch extended a 15-14 lead to a 27-19 advantage with 9:29 to go in the half. The SC lead would remain between five and nine points for the remainder of the stanza, and would end up at a seven-point margin, 36-29. The two sides were about as evenly matched as possible on offense, as Southwestern's 12-of-30 (40%) shooting clip was just minorly better than the 12-of-31 (38.4%) line that Northwestern produced. The Builders' 8-of-10 free throw clip doubled the Red Raiders' 4-of-5 showing in half number one. Additionally, the Moundbuilders sunk four threes in the first half, while NWC only hit on one three-point try.

Following the intermission, the Red Raiders would trail SC by as many as 10 points, as they trailed 52-42 with 13:42 to go in the game. An 11-2 run by Northwestern, however, would cut into that advantage significantly. A 54-53 Moundbuilder lead was no longer safe. The two teams would trade blows for the next several minutes, but SC extended their lead to as many as five points on multiple occasions during that span. The Red Raiders would score eight straight points after being down 69-64 with 6:49 left. They had a 72-69 lead over the Builders with only 5:18 remaining. The NWC squad would do nothing but extend the lead to 76-71 with only 3:48 to go, and things began to look bleak for Southwestern. Then, though, the Builders erupted to put forth a 12-0 run and grab an 83-76 lead with only 12 seconds left. From the 3:41 mark until the final buzzer was all SC, as they stormed back to snatch a win from the jaws of defeat, 87-82.

Cevin Clark's 33 points were once again hugely important, as he took 24 of the team's 58 shots in the victory. He went 13-of-24 from the field, putting up efficient numbers again, while not having his best three-point shooting night. He sunk 2-of-9 from distance. Jarvis Jennings contributed 16 points to the Moundbuilder effort off the bench, as he knocked down 4-of-7 from the field and made two threes on four tries, along with hitting six free throws. Cooper Pierce's contributions included 14 points on 3-of-6 shooting, including three made threes on four attempts.

Andrew O'Brien's four assists led the squad, as Trey White dished out three for the Builders, and both Trey Abasolo and Pierce doled out a pair of assists to teammates. The one remaining assist came from Clark.

O'Brien was stellar in the rebounding department, hauling in 12 backboards for Southwestern. Deng Bol grabbed 10 rebounds, which was the second-highest total on the squad. Pierce's six boards and Abasolo's five rebounds stood out, as well. Zach Hidalgo provided three rebounds for the Builders, and Clark reeled in two.

Three steals were recorded by the Builders in the triumphant effort, as O'Brien, Abasolo and Clark snagged errant passes or fumbled dribbles. The lone blocked shot for the SC defense came from O'Brien, as he had a nice night on the defensive end of the floor.

The job is not done yet, as Southwestern (26-6) will now be tasked with toppling the No. 5 team in the nation, the Langston University Lions. The Lions are the No. 2 seed in the Duer Quadrant, and are favorites to move forward to the NAIA National Championship final site in Kansas City, Mo. with a win over the Builders. Tip off is set for 7 p.m. in Langston, as the Moundbuilders look to pull the upset and move on to the round of 16 at Municipal Auditorium.

--buildersports.com--