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Posted by
Corey Westra
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Wed, Mar 11, 2009
- [
Men's Basketball
] - Viewed 489 times
 Chargers Fall Against Grenadiers
Indiana University-Southeast opened the NAIA D-II Men's Basketball National Championship with a 76-59 win over Briar Cliff (Iowa). It was the first tournament win for the Grenadiers in this their sixth trip to the national tournament. The 18th-annual event is being held at the Keeter Gymnasium on the campus of the College of the Ozarks (Mo.).
It was a game of runs in the first half as Briar Cliff opened the game with six straight points but Indiana-Southeast answered right back with a 13-0 run to grab its first lead. BCU outscored the Grenadiers 17-6 to open up its largest lead of the game (31-23) with under two minutes in the first half and led 33-27 at halftime. Briar Cliff shot 43% in the opening half compared to 36% for the Grenadiers.
Indiana-Southeast tied the game at 35 in the opening stages of the second half and outscored Briar Cliff 14-3 to build up a 49-38 advantage. Sophomore guard Jazzmarr Ferguson triggered the run with a pair of three-pointers and scored 17 of his game-high 19 points in the second half. The Chargers managed to cut the lead down to five (50-45) but went ice cold from the field and never got any closer. The Grenadiers shot 51% for the game, including a blistering 69% (18/26) in the second half. Three players scored in double figures, led by Ferguson with 19, followed by All-American Craig Bryant with 18. DeJon Gary added 13 for IUSE, who also outrebounded the Chargers 38-34. Ferguson, Gary and Charlie Gonzalez led the way with eight boards each. Briar Cliff was led by sophomore guard Kyle Semprini with 17 points. Matt Geelan added nine points and a team-high six rebounds. The Chargers shot 35% for the game but struggled from beyond the arc, making just 4-of-27 attempts for 15%. Briar Cliff, making its sixth appearance at the national tournament, closes the year with a 23-8 record.
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