Mountain State (W.Va.)-87; Olivet Nazarene-76 (2OT)

KANSAS CITY, Mo.—Olivet Nazarene University’s men’s basketball team nearly pulled off an upset of fifth-seed Mountain State University (W.Va.) in the opening round of the 2008 Buffalo Funds NAIA Division I National Tournament on Wednesday, as the Tigers pushed the Cougars to two overtime sessions before falling 87-76.

A 13-2 run by the Cougars in the second overtime sealed the Tigers’ fate.

The Tigers, who trailed 35-28 at halftime, outscored Mountain State 38-31 in the second half, pulling even at 66 on a three-pointer from Tyler Wallenfang (Washington, Ill.) with four tenths of second remaining.

In the first overtime, Mountain State took an early 68-66 lead, but the Tigers knotted the score at 68 on a layup from Phil French (Richton Park, Ill.) with four minutes and 21 seconds to play.

After Mountain State’s Jarvis Jackson hit two free throws, French was called for his fifth foul.

However, that did not spell doom for the Tigers.

On their next possession, Wallenfang scored on a layup, knotting the game at 70 with 2:51 to play.

Rashad Mitchell (Batavia, Ill.) gave the Tigers a 71-70 lead with a free throw at the 1:55 mark. The lead for the Tigers was their first since a Josh Bronke (Normal, Ill.) three-pointer less than a minute into the game gave the Tigers a 3-2 lead.

Mountain State retook the lead 10 seconds later on a layup from James Spencer, the nation’s leading scorer at 24 points per game.

The Tigers ran their next possession down, with Bronke hitting a running layup in the lane with one second to go on the shot clock and 1:09 on the game clock, as the Tigers took a 73-72 lead.

Mountain State’s Adron Marshall hit a pair of free throws, as Mountain State retook the lead at 74-73 with 34 seconds to play.

The Tigers again worked the clock down. Bronke drove the lane and found Wallenfang open on the opposite block. Wallenfang was fouled and went to the line, where he made one of two free throws and knotted the game at 74, forcing a second overtime.

Mitchell gave the Tigers a 76-74 lead 20 seconds into the second extra session, but Mountain State rattled off 13 unanswered points to post the 11-point victory.

All five starters reached double figures. French and Wallenfang each finished with 16 points; Bronke scored 13; Ryan Paxson (Lake Bluff, Ill.) finished with 12; and Mitchell chipped in 11.

French concluded his career with his 28^th career double-double, as he grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.

The Tigers finished the game shooting 36.5 percent (23-of-63) from the floor, 23.1 percent (6-of-26) from the three-point line and 75 percent (24-of-32) from the free-throw line.

The loss ends the Tigers’ season at 17-15 overall.