March 20, 2008

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Campbellsville University (Ky.) pulled off the biggest upset to date in the first round of the 2008 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship with a 72-63 win Thursday against No. 6 seed Concordia University (Calif.) at Municipal Auditorium.

Bubba Long scored a game-high 29 points while Nestor Colmenares added 26 points and a game-high 15 rebounds as the Tigers shot 75 percent in the second half to hold off the Eagles. Campbellsville improves to 24-9 on the season and will meet No. 11 McKendree University (Ill.) in a second-round contest Friday at 2:15 p.m. CST. This is the third consecutive year that Campbellsville has advanced to the round of 16.

In the first half, the Tigers broke open a close game with a 12-1 run to take its largest lead of the period, 30-17 at the 2:17 mark. Concordia closed to within 33-24 at the half, then opened the second half with a 14-5 spurt to tie the contest at 38-38 with 15:46 to play.

Later in the second half, a basket by Deveon Jenkins put Campbellsville in front to stay, 57-55, with 7:29 left. The Tigers slowly stretched their lead from that point, and made five of six free throws in the final 39 seconds of play to record the win.

Campbellsville won despite committing 19 turnovers. The Tigers did hold a 44-26 edge in rebounding against Concordia.

Terrance Worthy led Concordia with 19 points, while Ryan Read added 13 points. Josh Kramer chipped in with 12 points, and Joe Roberson pulled down a team-best 12 rebounds for the Eagles. Concordia wrapped up its 2007-08 season with an overall record of 28-5.