First Round Surprise

McKendree upsets Storm in first round

Alexander finished just 30 points shy of 1,000 points for his career.

Box Score

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Xavier Alexander scored a team-high 15 points in his final game for Southern Nazarene as 10^th-ranked SNU fell 75-62 to No. 23 McKendree (Ill.) in the first round of the 2011 Buffalo Funds NAIA Men's Basketball National Championships.

The Crimson Storm (26-8) struggled in the second half after it looked they were starting to open up a big lead late in the first half. Alexander started a 7-0 run to break an 18-18 tie as SNU took a 25-18 lead and then stretched the lead to 31-22 on an A.J. Thomas steal and a Daniel White layup with two minutes left in the first. The Bearcats (21-12) though kept it close and went into the second half trailing just 33-27.

Southern Nazarene was held scoreless the first 3:08 of the second half as McKendree completed a 6-0 run to tie it at 33. After Milos Milosevic gave SNU a 35-33 lead, the Bearcats answered with five straight to lead 38-35. SNU scored the next five to retake the lead at 40-38. The two teams then exchanged five more leads until Eric Hobbie, who scored a game-high 23 points for the Bearcats, completed a 3-point play to start a 9-0 run as McKendree led 57-49 with 4:40 left.

SNU was held to just three field goals in the final five minutes of the game and hit just four 3-pointers in the entire game. The Storm shot 22.2 percent (4-18) from the perimeter and 34.9 percent (22-63) from the field. Southern Nazarene also turned the ball over 17 times and got out rebounded 44-41. Jon West and Horace McGloster each added 11 points as McGloster pulled down six rebounds while Jon West grabbed five boards.

Daniel White added seven points while Adrian Hunter hit half of SNU's 3-pointers for six points.

SNU held McKendree to just 29 percent shooting in the first half, but the Bearcats fired 48.3 percent in the second half.

The loss marks the end of the career of five Crimson Storm players. Alexander and Thomas along with Jeremy Lighfoot, Kyle Boen and Clement N'Gom. SNU will return one of its leading scorers in C.J. Henry and Jon West, who also averaged double figures on the year.

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