March 17, 2006

Kansas City, Mo. - Unseeded Olivet Nazarene University (Ill.) pulled off a 79-65 upset victory against top-seeded Mountain State University (W.Va.) second-round play Friday at the 2006 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship.

Junior forward Stan Chismark poured in 27 points to lead the Tigers into a slot in the national quarterfinals on Saturday. Olivet Nazarene will face either Georgetown College (Ky.) or Oklahoma Baptist University at 8 p.m. CST. The Tigers have now reached the NAIA Elite Eight in each of their last four trips to the national tournament.

Olivet Nazarene led for all but the first three minutes of play. Chismark hit a three-pointer with 17:08 left in the opening half to give the Tigers a 5-2 advantage. The margin increased to 18 points before Mountain State rallied to within 34-26 at the intermission.

After falling behind by 14 points midway through the second half, the Cougars made a run. Mountain State battled back to within five points on four different occasions down the stretch, the last coming at 62-57 on a basket by senior forward Hakim Rasul with 3:43 remaining. Olivet Nazarene senior guard Zach Birkey responded with a three-pointer moments later to give the Tigers an eight-point cushion. Olivet Nazarene then sealed the game from the free throw line, hitting 10 attempts from the line in the final 2:35 of play.

Sophomore forward Phil French came off the bench to add 16 points for Olivet Nazarene. Birkey finished with 11 points and a tournament-leading 10 assists, while junior guard Phil Howell and freshman forward Nick Livas each connected for 10 points. Junior center Travis Meeks hauled in a game-high 11 rebounds for the Tigers.

Rasul had a team-high 16 points for Mountain State, while senior guard Donald Whitfield added 13 points. Senior forward Mersad Terzic grabbed nine rebounds for the Cougars. Mountain State, the 2004 NAIA Division I national champion, ends its year with a 29-3 mark.