GAME 2 - Oklahoma Baptist 77, Cumberland (Ky.) 72

OBU Head Coach Doug Tolin

"We tried to extend our defense as far as we could and then with all the ball screens you have to help out and rotate over. It's not just the guy guarding the three-pointer - it's everyone."

"I thought their comeback started with good defense. They started guarding harder and all of a sudden it's harder to handle the ball and get good shots. They hit two or three and it's a ball game again."

OBU guard Kortney Smith

"We made a few big stops near the end. (Tre Griffin) hit a couple of big shots and J.R. (Broadus) hit the free throws when we had to have them."

Cumberlands Head Coach Don Butcher

"It's tough to double-team on the ball side and get back out to their shooters."

"We got down by 10 points late in the game, but we called timeout, got a couple of quick buckets and got it back down to three, so we definitely didn't back down from them at that point."

"I think they just out-executed us down the stretch. We had two good looks there late that didn't fall and they hit one and made some free throws and that was really the difference. They made some plays over the last four minutes and we give them credit."

GAME 3 - Robert Morris (IL) 81, Westmont (CA) 86

RMC Head Coach Al Bruehl

"The difference for us today was playing in a close game.  We were focused and intense, but maybe we were panicking just a bit when they cut it to three in the second half."

"Westmont was tough match-up for us.  They are well-coached and disciplined.  They did deviate from their game plan."

"I think the biggest keys for us were Anthony Smith and Steve Strong.  They are two players who have been here before and know what it takes to win in this tournament.  They gave us a chance with their ability to get to the basket when we were just not hitting the outside shot."

On Steve Strong, who had been in a late season slump: "Maybe Steve's a west of the Mississippi player.  He was great last year and he came up big today.  His tournament experience was very important to us in this game."

RMC Guard Steve Strong

"Coming off the bench it's important to have the same intensity as the starters.  They were giving me the drive today so I took it."

RMC Forward Freeman Taylor

On adjusting to foul trouble on the RMC frontline:  "You have to adjust.  Coach kept reminding me that he (Westmont's Acquire) was always going to turn to the left.  We adjusted and down the stretch got some big rebounds.  Our depth was really big."

Westmont Head Coach John Moore

"We played within our system and we executed our game plan.  They are a great defensive team as you can see by their steal and blocked shots. They could jump higher but we tried to out hustle but they kept bringing players off the bench. "

"We needed to keep them off the board and we kept them 20 rebounds  under their season average of 45. "

"I told our guys that "We are who we are" and we played with great courage and turned into the crowd favorite. We knew our stuff would work against this team even when we got down by 10 points."

On Santigo Aguirre, " He played a beautiful game, our top player 20 points, 13 rebounds and five assists and he played 38 minutes."

On Andrew Schmalbach, our freshman guard, " He was outstanding giving us the outside points to open up the inside game. (4 of 5 three pointers)"

GAME 4 - Crichton (TN) 98, Tougaloo College 73

Tougaloo College Head Coach Lafayette Stribling

"We just did not come to play. This is Tougaloo's first time competing in a tournament of this magnitude. They came to play and we did not."

 

"We have a chance to make it back to this level next year because we are only losing one player from this year's team."

 

Crichton University Head Coach Jeff Walker

On the team's first appearance in the NAIA DI Men's Basketball Championship Tournament

"It is only our second year having a program at the NAIA level so we are glad to be here.  That was our plan from the start, when we started this program we said that we wanted to compete on the national level year-in and year-out.  We recruited the team that way and the guys have stepped up.  We won the regular season and the TransSouth Conference tourney so we have proven that we deserve to be here."

 

On his team's energy level underneath the basket

"That is how we try to play, we play inside out.  We try to go inside first, then outside and go to the offense boards.  We will take some quick shots as you will see in transition, but our strategy is to go get it if we miss and we have got to have a lot of energy to do that."

 

On Crichton's opponent in the second round, Auburn-Montgomery (Ala.)

"Our assistant coach Matt Sanders got a chance to get a look at them in their game today and we will get a film on them a little later.  We got until Friday so we will see what we can do."

 

GAME 8 - Illinois-Springfield 104, Lambuth 89

UIS Head Coach Kevin Gamble

"One of the keys to this game was our defense.  We had good scouting information and a pretty good idea how they would run.  They are very athletic and we were able to contain them, not allowing any open three's."

 

"We played consistent ball and did what we have been doing all season - making teams play against us in our style of play.  We took them out of their comfort zone tonight."

  

Lambuth Head Coach Kevin Burton

 "I did a bad job of coaching the first six to eight minutes tonight.  I got us off to a bad start.  We were uptight and nervous.  There is something to wanting something too bad and not playing relaxed and with a flow.

 

"They tried their best.  They're a special bunch of guys.  It's tough because they're back there right now broken hearted and crying.  I tried to convince them what a great  year they had.  I hope we can get back here again and maybe not play the late game.