Cougars fulfill Cinderella role to perfection

Photo courtesy Brian Beard / CIPhotography

Tues., March 16, 2010

   MT. LOOKOUT, Mo. -- Nice fit. 2010 NAIA National Championship CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

   What a sweet fit for the University of Saint Francis after the Cougars withstood the final salvos from 3-point range and the paint to hold off top-ranked Walsh University 67-66 on Tuesday night at Keeter Gymnasium on the College of the Ozarks campus. That glass slipper fits just great after the 15th-ranked Cougars won this grueling 5-game test of mind over body, mind over injuries, mind over fatigue, mind over extremely determined and desperate opposition just as determined to win as you are.

  Wear that Cinderella glass slipper well because you earned it defeating the 18th-ranked team, the 2nd-ranked team, the 10th-ranked team, the 6th-ranked team and the No. 1 team enroute to the NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship game. The Cougars, who entered the tournament dropping three of their last four games, won the five games by the slimest margin of victory (total points) in the 19-year history of the championship.

  Junior DeJovaun Sawyer-Davis scored 22 points for USF (28-9) and was named the tournament MVP after scoring 114 points in five games. It was an incredible effort considering Sawyer-Davis left Keeter Gymnasium on crutches on Monday night after the win over defending champion Oklahoma Wesleyan 77-73. Junior Ferdinand Morales-Soto earned the tournament 'Hustle' award. And Sawyer-Davis, Morales-Soto, sophomore Qadr Owens and Matt Edmonds were named to the All-Championship team.

  Oh yeah, USF coach Jeff Rekeweg was named Rawlings NAIA Coach of the Year. Glass slippers all around!

  Edmonds finished with a tournament high for him, 14 points. Owens scored 11 points, dished out four assists, had three steals and scrubbed the kitchen floor on his hands and knees. No, wait, that was Cinderella. Morales-Soto added 10 points. a team-leading seven rebounds, and four assists.

  'Q' scored what proved to be the winning basket with 39 seconds on an incredible sequense where Sawyer-Davis pushed the rebound off the Walsh backboard. Owens corralled the ball and tipped it to Morales-Soto on the right side of the court near mid-court.

  "I just took off on the left side yellin' Ferdie, Ferdie, Ferdie, and he turned around and hit me with a good pass, and I just laid it up," and in, Owens recalled. "I didn't even think about what happened or missin'. We didn't want to lose comin' this far."

  Morales-Soto tapped the ball back to Owens who scored an unmolested layup and a 67-66 lead, the 20th and final lead change of the game.

  "What incredible communication and presence of mind we had on that sequence," Rekeweg said in a voice that sounded like a car on a gravel road. "That play epitomized the way we played in all five games."

   The game was far from over, however, and the Cougars maneuvered through the time remaining as if they were on a Fort Wayne street full of potholes. The Cougars survived with some good luck and a grit on defense unmatched this season.

   Morales-Soto had a chance to open up a hair of breathing room with a 1-and-1 free-throw opportunity at 14 seconds, but he left the first shot short. Walsh guard Brandon Speck missed a baseline jumper under pressure from Morales-Soto, Speck's jumper richocheting off the side of the backboard to Sawyer-Davis, who was fouled. With 1.5 seconds left, Sawyer-Davis  missed the front of the bonus opportunity and Austin Leisure fouled the Walsh rebounder. The Cavaliers were not in the bonus, so they took the ball out of bounds. After each team called a timeout, Walsh appeared ready to try the play that got them the game-winning shot on Monday night against Bellevue (Neb.) in the first semifinal game.

  "With the good coachin' staff we've got, they recognized what they were gonna do on that last play, and I saw they were gonna try to pass it to Ricky (Jackson), so I left my man, grabbed it with one hand, but lost it as Ricky pulled me down. Matt grabbed it and took off and time expired. I just fell and gave God all the praise. It hasn't sunk in yet."

  Rekeweg put 6-foot-6 freshman Brad Sneary on the passer along the baseline and Sneary forced a higher pass attempt to mid-court. Owens timed it perfectly tipping the ball away to Edmonds as time expired the the Cougars' bench poured onto the floor to celebrate before a national television audience on CBS Sports. Later the finish made ESPN's 'Top 10' video clips list, the second night in a row for an NAIA invasion.

  "I heard Q yellin' and just flipped the ball in the direction of Q because there really wasn't time to look and then pass," Morales-Soto recalled amid the pandimonium on the floor. "Great heads up play by Q."

  Walsh, which had won 13 consecutive games heading into the championship game, appeared to take control four minutes of the first half. Lamar Skeeter scored with 1:26 left in the half to open up an eight-point 36-28 Cavaliers lead. After an Edmonds' second chance basket cut the USF deficit to 36-32, Isaac Knight scored on a rebound bucket for a 38-30 WU lead. Morales-Soto scored with 26 seconds to play and WU settled for a 38-32 halftime lead.

   The Cavaliers held the Cougars at arm's length through the first two-plus minutes still leading 44-36 with 17:33 to play after an L.J. Sutton jumper in the second half. Emonds started the USF claw-back scoring on a baby-hook from the paint at 17:14. Sawyer-Davis muscled in a jumper at 16:48 and after a Walsh turnover, Sawyer-Davis buried a 3-pointer at 16:10.

   "Amazing what can happen when you make a few baskets combined with a few stops on defense," Rekeweg rasped out. "Our guys turned up the defensive intensity and it led to some good things on offense."

  Freshman Joey Kosiarek felt the rush hitting a 3-pointer after a WU 3-point miss, and USF led 46-44 with 15:39 to play. In the next 15 minutes, the lead changes hands 17 times and the score was tied twice (57, 6:13 left; 63, 3:00 left) before Owens put USF in front for good 67-66.

 "We just kept playin' hard and didn't get caught up in whether the calls were right or wrong, for us or against us," Sawyer-Davis said. "We had to make our own breaks and take advantage when we could. I'm just really happy for all my teammates."

  "We thought we could make some noise," Rekeweg recalled as the celebration died down with Cougars taking turns cutting down a piece of the nets. "We got critical contributions from our bench as well as our regulars, guys like Austin Leisure coming in a buckling down on defense, a freshman, Kevin Bloom, coming in and digging out two crucial rebounds in the second half. Ethan Hussey gave eight big minutes despite a painful theigh bruise. Kosiarek's 3-pointer was critical to keep our momentum going and Austin's defense on their guards was critical to our play on defense.

  "Brad's defense along the baseline at the end was vitally important," Rekeweg whispered right before getting on the bus for jubilant ride back to the hotel one more time.

 While Rekeweg could hardly speak, his team did the talking for him loud and clear with the noise they made on the Keeter Gymnasium floor to win the glass slipper.

Championship Box Score