March 15, 2006

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Unseeded Southern Polytechnic (Ga.) pulled off the first major upset of the 69^th Annual Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship with a 104-90 victory against No. 2 seed Louisiana State University-Shreveport Wednesday at Municipal Auditorium.

Senior forward Dominique Holmes and senior guard A.J. Mastin each scored 21 points as the Runnin' Hornets rolled to a season high in points scored. Southern Poly improves to 22-10 overall and will meet Lindsey Wilson College (Ky.) in a second-round game Friday at 4:30 p.m. CST.

LSU-Shreveport led in the opening minutes before Southern Poly scored eight consecutive points to grab the lead for good at 10-5. The Runnin' Hornets pushed the margin to 14 points before taking a 47-35 at the intermission. The Pilots responded by scoring the seven points in the second half to pull within 47-42. LSU-Shreveport eventually sliced the deficit to 51-47 on a three-pointer by senior guard Fredericko Payne with 17:33 on the clock.

Southern Poly quickly built the lead back to double digits and withstood several rally attempts from the Pilots. The Runnin' Hornets made nine of their final 10 attempts from the free throw line to pull away for the victory.

Junior forward Anthony Bowman came off the bench to post 16 points for Southern Poly, while senior forward Mark Reece added 15 points. Mastin led the Runnin' Hornets with seven rebounds, while junior guard William Baker dished out a team-high five assists.

Payne capped his playing career at LSU-Shreveport with a game-high 24 points. Junior guard Josh Porter connected for 22 points, while senior center Jeremy Johnston chipped in with 18 points and six rebounds. LSU-Shreveport had its 11-game win streak snapped to close its season with an overall record of 28-4.