March 20, 2006

The Semifinals of the 2006 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship will take place this evening at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. at Municipal Auditorium. Robert Morris and Texas Wesleyan look to capture their first national championship while Oklahoma Baptist and Oklahoma City has experience in championship play and look to add to their program's successful history.

Robert Morris Talent Looks to Capture First National Championship

Robert Morris College (No. 3) - www.robertmorris.edu 
Location: Chicago, Ill.
Inside Scoop: Only repeat team to reach the semifinals this year.  Revenged last year's tournament exit at the hands of Azusa Pacific (Calif.) but defeating the Cougars this year in the quarterfinals.  The last #3 seed to win the title was Hawaii Pacific in 1993.
Tournament History: 2004 Sweet 16, 2005 Fab Four
Road to the Quarters: def. Southern Wesleyan (S.C.) 88-80, def. Spring Hill (Ala.) 87-71, def. Azusa Pacific (Calif.) 94-91
Keep an eye on: Reggie George a 6-10 senior center from Chicago, Ill., was at the top with 22 points in the win over Azusa Pacific helping the Eagles secure a spot in the quarterfinals.
Rebound: Robert Morris advanced to the NAIA Division II tournament twice, posting a best finish of runner-up in 2002.
Head Coach: Al Bruehl was inducted in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Hall of Fame prior to the start of the 2005-06 season. In 2004-2005, Robert Morris repeated as regular season and tournament champions of the CCAC and entered the NAIA National Tournament as the Number 4 seed.  The lightning-quick Eagles thrilled the crowds at Kansas City with an awesome display of three-point shooting and pressure defense that swept Robert Morris into the tournament's final four for the second time in Coach Bruehl's career.
Coach's Quote: "It's pretty hard to do, especially when you have to beat a team as experienced and talented as Azusa Pacific. We want to represent our school as best we can, and we hope we're doing everything we can." Coach Bruehl on reaching the Fab Four for the second year in a row.

Harper's first year at Oklahoma City rolls on

Oklahoma City University (No. 7) - www.okcu.edu
Location: Oklahoma City, Okla.
Inside Scoop:  A #7 seed has never won the national title.  The last time two teams from the same conference were in the semifinals was 2002 when Oklahoma Baptist and University of Science & Arts advanced to the championship game.
Road to the Quarters: def. Columbia (Mo.) 91-64, def. Houston Baptist (Texas) 99-77, def. Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 77-67
Tournament History: 1987 Sweet 16, 1991 National Champion, 1992 Champion, 1993 Sweet 16, 1994 National Champion, 1998 Sweet 16, 1999 Sweet 16, 2000 Sweet 16, 2001 Sweet 16, 2002 Elite Eight, 2003 First Round, 2004 Elite Eight, 2005 Sweet 16
Keep an eye on: Lorenzo Gordon, a 6-7 senior from St. Louis, led OCU with 25 points, nine rebounds and three assists in the win over Lindsey Wilson.
Rebound: Monday night's match-up marks the first time since 1996 that the Stars have reached the Fab Four. OCU won its fourth national championship that year with an 86-80 win against Georgetown (Ky.).
Head Coach: Ray Harper is in his first year at OCU. Harper has a 270-52 career record in 10 seasons. Harper won two NCAA Division II championships at Kentucky Wesleyan. Harper led Kentucky Wesleyan to six consecutive championship games, second to John Wooden's UCLA teams and the OCU women in consecutive title-game appearances (seven) in college basketball history. Harper was SAC Co-Coach of the Year, sharing the award with John Sheehy of John Brown (Ark.).

Tolin looking for his first and OBU's second national championship

Oklahoma Baptist University (No. 7) - www.okbu.edu
Location: Shawnee, Oklahoma 
Iside Scoop: The last time two teams from the same conference were in the semifinals was 2002 when Oklahoma Baptist met University of Science & Arts in the championship game.  The last #8 seed to win the national title was St. Mary's (Texas) in 1989.
Tournament History: 1958 First Round, 1960 Sweet 16, 1963 First Round, 1965 Runner-up, 1966 Champions, 1967 Runner-up, 1973 Elite Eight, 1993 Runner-up, 1994 Fab Four, 1995 First Round, 1996 Sweet 16, 1997 Runner-up, 1999 Elite Eight, 2001 Elite Eight, 2002 Runner-up, 2003 Elite Eight, 2004 Elite Eight, 2005 Sweet 16
Road to the Quarters: def. Illinois-Springfield 86-70, def. Georgetown (Ky.) 80-71, def. Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 91-75 No. 7 seed Oklahoma City University advanced to its first NAIA quarterfinal round in 10 years with a 77-67 victory against unseeded Lindsey Wilson College last Saturday.
Keep an eye on: Frank Benson a senior forward from Houston was a second-team All-American and ranks second in the NAIA in scoring with 22.9 average.
Rebound: Guard Trey Griffin is the brother of LSU women's basketball coach Pokey Chatman. The Bison are the second best-shooting team in the NAIA Division I, converting nearly 52% of their shots.
Head Coach:  Doug Tolin, coach at OBU since 2000-01, has led the Bison to five consecutive NAIA Tournaments, reaching at least the quarterfinal round each time. Tolin was voted SAC Coach of the Year in 2002 and 2003.

The Cinderella Story

Texas Wesleyan University - www.txwes.edu 
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Inside Scoop: First Red River Athletic Conference to reach the Fab Four.  First Texas team to reach the Fab Four since 1994 when Midwestern State.  Texas Wesleyan is trying to become the fourth-unseeded team to win the title in the last eight years.   
Road to the Quarters: def. Union (Tenn.) 82-64, def. Oklahoma Christian 67-62, def. Carroll (Mont.) 73-70
Tournament History: 1940 Elite Eight, 1941 Elite Eight, 1942 First Round, 1943 First Round, 1947 Sweet 16, 1948 First Round, 1983 Sweet 16
Keep an eye on: Ben Hunt, a senior guard from Bendigo, Australia, reached the 1,000 point milestone in just two season with the Rams, was selected the Red River Player of the Week six times this season and was named RRAC Co-Player of the Year.
Rebound: At 8:00 p.m. on Monday, the Texas Wesleyan University men's basketball team will play in its first NAIA Fab Four in the 68-year history of the program. The school has made eight tournament appearances, reaching the Elite Eight in 1940 and 1941, but they had not made the field since 1983.
Head Coach: Terry Waldrop is on the brink of wrapping up the most successful run at a national championship title in team history. In his seventh season as head coach for Texas Wesleyan he has developed Ram basketball into a highly competitive program, improving the quality of play, opponents, recruiting and national perception of the program. Earlier in the year Waldrop led the Rams to a 77-69 win over two-time defending NCAA Division I Southland Conference Champions and 2005 NCAA tournament participant Southeastern Louisiana.
Coach's Quotes:  "Both teams were really tired and we just gutted it out. Carroll is an extremely talented and well-coached team, but the emotion in our locker room right now sums up this game. We gave it everything we had." Texas Wesleyan Head Coach Terry Waldrop on the win over Carroll College (Mont.).