The Saint Xavier University men’s basketball team finished the season with a 29-6 overall mark and advanced to the second round of the NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball National Championships down in Point Lookout, Mo. SXU defeated University of Saint Mary (Kan.) in the opening round of the tournament, but drew a tough Indiana University Southeast team in the second round where the Cougars fell, 83-73.
Saint Xavier made an appearance in the NAIA National Tournament for the first time since the 2009-10 season where SXU lost in the opening round to the eventual national champions of that season, Oklahoma Baptist University. This was the first time that the Cougars made an appearance in this national tournament after the switch from NAIA Division I to NAIA Division II and Saint Xavier looked poised to make a deep run.
SXU departed for Point Lookout, Mo., on the morning of March 4 and after an approximate eight and a half hour bus ride, the Cougars had reached their destination. In the days leading up to the first round match-up and the second round match-up, Saint Xavier practiced at different locations including Branson Junior High School, Hollister High School and Branson High School.
SXU was also treated to a very nice banquet at the Dixie Stampede where all 32 teams competing in the national tournament gathered for a night of entertainment and great food. The Cougars were recognized along with the other 31 teams in the tournament.
The first round match-up pitted the Saint Xavier Cougars against the University of Saint Mary Spires (Kan.) on Wednesday, March 6 in the nightcap game of the day at 9:45 p.m. The first round of the tournament spanned two days between Wednesday and Thursday and in that time, 10 of the 16 seeded teams were eliminated including No. 3 Northwood University (Fla.), No. 4 Northwestern (Iowa) and No. 5 Warner Pacific College (Ore.).
No. 6 seeded SXU would not let the upsets happen to them though as the Cougars defeated the Spires, 82-60. Saint Xavier had five guys reach double figures led by senior point guard Roosevelt Green who poured in 18 points and added six assists.
Junior guard Brad Karp recorded a near double-double with 15 points and 9 rebounds while both senior point guard Anthony Grant and sophomore guard Jack Krieger each added 12 points. SXU got a real ‘shot in the arm’ on the evening from freshman forward Tony Core who chipped in with 11 points, but his presence on the court and his intensity really shifted the momentum in favor of the Cougars.
Saint Xavier played lockdown defense limiting the Spire offense to a shooting percentage of just 31.3 percent in the game. SXU also forced 15 turnovers in the game and converted that into 18 points.
Indiana University Southeast defeated Valley City State (N.D.), 75-72 in the NAIA Division II National Championship First Round to meet SXU in the second round of the tournament.
The Cougars were up against some tough competition as the Grenadiers finished the regular season with a 27-4 overall and also the champions of the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC) as well as the No. 11 seeded team in the tournament. Saint Xavier and Indiana University Southeast both finished the regular season ranked in the NAIA top-10 with SXU ranked No. 7 and IUSE ranked No. 10.
The Cougars were limited by the Grenadiers throughout the game as Saint Xavier could not get much momentum going and SXU found themselves down big early and down by as many as 21 points in the game. The Cougars cut the lead down to as low as six, but that would be as close as they would get as Saint Xavier never led in the contest.
Krieger led SXU with 19 points while Karp and Grant added 15 and 10 points, respectively. Senior forward Dominique Harvey had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds on the night as well.
The Cougars finished the season with a 29-6 overall record and a 22-2 record in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC). Congratulations to Saint Xavier on a tremendous season and great luck to the graduating seniors in Roosevelt Green, Anthony Grant, Dominique Harvey and Mike Beutel.
For exclusive photo galleries of the trip, check out www.sxucougars.com and the Saint Xavier Athletics Facebook page.
Greg Pilafas
Deputy Editor in Chief