Box Score KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- For the third time in four seasons, the Carroll College Fighting Saints are quarterfinalists.
Seniors
Match Burnham and
Matt Wyman combined for 54 points and Carroll (27-7) played gritty defense to take down one of the most decorated programs in the NAIA, the Oklahoma City Stars (22-11), 80-69 on Friday in the Second Round of the NAIA National Tournament in Municipal Auditorium.
"Very excited for the guys," Saints coach
Kurt Paulson said. "They earned this. I'm really proud that we held our composure. That's a very good team in Oklahoma City. They're well coached. They made some runs at us."
A day after scoring a tournament high 101-points, the Stars dimmed against the Saints. Carroll's disciplined defense held the Stars 14 points below their season average.
Match Burnham tortured the Stars in the first half with a flurry of attacks on the rim. The Stars had a simple choice: give up two points or foul Burnham.
Either scenario favored the Saints.
Burnham hit 9-of-10 free throws in the first half and went 5-for-10 from the field to lead the Saints.
Freshman
Eetu Villa gave the Saints an added cushion heading into half, up-faking his defender, dribbling to his left once and drilling a three-pointer to beat the buzzer.
Carroll led 39-35 at the break.
Carroll mustered up big play after big play in the second half.
The Saints started the second half on a 7-2 run, building an 11-point lead with 16 minutes left, but the Stars hung in. After leading 55-44, the Stars went on a 7-0 run to narrow the gap to four points with 11 minutes left in the game.
Carroll held a two-possession lead for a good chunk of the second half. When the Stars cut the lead to one-point on multiple occasions, the Saints' seniors showed their resolve. Wyman got a bucket to put the Saints up three with six minutes left and when OCU cut it back to one, Burnham hit a three to put the Saints up four.
Then the game took a bizarre turn.
Leading by four, the Saints drew a foul and sent freshman point guard
Shamrock Campbell to the foul line. A chance to push the lead to six, Campbell sunk the first free throw -- except it didn't count.
The officials determined Campbell wasn't the shooter and assessed the Saints a class-a technical foul. It resulted in the Stars hitting two free-throws before the officials placed Wyman on the foul-line, who nailed two more to keep the lead at four.
A highly dramatic moment could have shaken a weaker team -- not the Saints.
The Stars capitalized momentarily on a score by Joe Clark, but Burnham calmly hit two free throws and then Warp got a bucket in the paint to push the lead back to four.
Then, the Saints closed the door.
Burnham hit two more free throws and then
Ife Kalejaiye scored a layup to push the game to a three-possession lead for Carroll. OCU had nothing left in the tank to come back.
Burnham had his season-high with 34 points.
"This group just really wants to win," Burnham said.
Carroll won while in a tough situation.
Carroll played at 12:30 p.m. CST on Thursday. With fewer than 24 hours to rest and prepare, the Saints' savvy from appearing in four consecutive national tournaments perhaps became an advantage.
"I felt like we played 10 hours ago," said Wyman, who added 20 points on 5-for-8 shooting.
Wyman elected to wake up earlier than required to give his body time to adjust. It was a decision rooted in experience.
Two seasons earlier, Wyman noted, the Saints played earlier than they were accustomed to against Life in the quarterfinals. Carroll started slow, falling behind by as many as nine points in the first half before battling back. It became a game the Saints fired a buzzer-beater to tie, but missed.
"If we wouldn't have had the slow start, we would have won," Wyman said, noting his lesson. "So today I was getting up early."
Carroll's experience and composure came up big. A day after being unable to find their three-point stroke in the first round, the Saints returned to form, shooting 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from the three-point line and 81 from the foul line.
Carroll hit 29-of-37 free throws.
Now Carroll will play the winner of Benedictine-Pikeville, which tips off at 7:30 p.m. Friday night. The quarterfinal contest will tip off at 6:30 p.m. MST on Saturday.
Notes: OCU has made 25 NAIA tournament appearances and won six national championships.
