March 15, 2007

Kansas City, Mo. - Northwestern Oklahoma State University became the third consecutive unseeded team to post a first-round victory at the 2007 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship with a 61-57 win against Lewis-Clark State College (Idaho) Thursday at Municipal Auditorium.

 

Junior guard Shane Hansen's basket with 2:07 to play broke a 57-all tie and lifted the Rangers past the No. 14-seeded Warriors. Northwestern Oklahoma State has won four of its last five contests to move to 21-11 on the season. The Rangers will meet another unseeded team, Xavier University (La.) in a tournament second-round game Friday at 8 p.m. CDT.

 

The win by Northwestern Oklahoma State University followed consecutive upset victories by Xavier and McKendree College (Ill.). Xavier defeated No. 3 Georgetown College (Ky.), 82-79, while McKendree held off No. 6 Mountain State University, 86-80.

 

Lewis-Clark State shot 55 percent in the first half to build a 32-26 lead at the break. The Warriors took their largest lead of the contest, 41-34, on a field goal by senior forward Jared Tikker with 14:10 to play. Northwestern Oklahoma State reeled off nine consecutive points to grab a 43-41 lead at the midway point of the half. There were four more lead changes and five ties before Hansen's basket that put the Rangers ahead to stay.

 

Hansen scored a team-high 15 points, while senior center Gary Nunez recorded a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds to lead Northwestern Oklahoma State.

 

Lewis-Clark State had a nine-game win streak snapped with the loss. Senior forward Chris Pitts led the Warriors with a game-high 16 points along with nine rebounds. Junior forward Mike Gordy connected for 13 points. He also grabbed nine rebounds. Senior guard Teran Lee chipped in with 10 points for Lewis-Clark State, which closed its season at 26-7 overall.