PARK CITY, Kan. – The ultimate prize of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) was on the line on Championship Monday inside Hartman Arena, as the No. 3-seeded Bethel College Threshers faced off with the No. 4-tabbed Moundbuilders of Southwestern College for conference tournament supremacy. In addition to winning the KCAC Men's Basketball Championship, the victor of the battle would earn the conference's coveted second automatic bid to the NAIA National Championship Opening Round.
Through the opening several possessions, both sides faced a bit of a struggle to put the ball in the basket, as each squad shot below 30% from the field through the first 10 minutes of play. The difference in the early part of the first half was the three-point shooting prowess of Southwestern, as they hit on 3-of-7 from distance before the Threshers took their first timeout of the battle with 14:02 to go in the first 20 minutes. At that point, the Builders had accumulated a 14-8 lead. Ultimately, the two sides would battle back and forth, but the Moundbuilders inched their way further from the Threshers with much-improved shooting in the last five minutes of the half. By the end of the primary stanza, Southwestern had lifted their shooting percentage to 39.4% by shooting 13-of-33 for the period. In the meantime, Bethel was barely able to get to the 30% mark at 11-of-36 (30.6%). By the conclusion of the first 20 minutes, Southwestern had raced out to a 46-31 lead with their eyes set on a conference title.
Every time that Bethel attempted to cut into the lead in the second half, it felt as if the Builders had an answer. After a stretch of play in which the Threshers cut the lead to 53-42 for Southwestern with 15:41 to go in the half, the Moundbuilders quickly snuffed out the attack from the No. 3 seed, mounting a 7-2 run to stretch the lead back to 16 points at 60-44. Bethel surged back after falling behind by as many as 21 points, cutting their deficit to single digits at just eight points with 1:50 remaining, 80-72. But the late push from the Threshers was not enough, as Southwestern would outlast them in the final minute and change, taking an 83-74 victory inside Hartman. The Builders snagged the second automatic berth for the KCAC with the triumph.
The three-headed monster of Cevin Clark (7-of-17 FG, 29 PTS, 14-of-14 FT, 1-of-3 3PT), Deng Bol (6-of-11 FG, 23 PTS, 8-of-8 FT, 3-of-6 3PT), and Andrew O'Brien (6-of-11 FG, 19 PTS, 3-of-4 FT, 4-of-8 3PT) lifted Southwestern, as they received just 12 points from elsewhere on their roster. Cooper Pierce put forth a nice 4-of-9 effort from the field and scored nine points to aid the top three.
Bethel had a well-rounded attack, as Clifford Byrd II (8-of-18 FG, 19 PTS) was the squad's leading scorer. Three other Threshers reached double-figures in scoring, as Carmelo Yakubu (5-of-11 FG, 17 PTS, 6-of-8 FT, 1-of-2 3PT), Bryant Mocaby (2-of-11 FG, 10 PTS, 4-of-4 FT, 2-of-6 3PT) and Harper Jonas (4-of-11 FG, 10 PTS, 2-of-3 FT) led the way for Bethel.
Trey Abasolo was huge for the Moundbuilders in ball distribution, dishing out three assists in the victory. He was responsible for nearly half of the squad's dimes in the championship game. O'Brien tallied two assists, while the pair of Pierce and Zach Hidalgo handed out the last two of the seven Builder assists.
For the Threshers, Byrd tied Abasolo's three-assist output as the top dimer for Bethel. He was followed by Mocaby with two, as well as the duo of Yakubu and Jared Richardson with one.
O'Brien cleaned the glass with vigor, collecting eight rebounds in the effort. His efforts were closely tailed by the six-rebound showing of Abasolo. Then, a quartet of Builders hauled in five rebounds apiece. Bol, Pierce, Hidalgo, and Phillip Smith were responsible for the boards. Clark and Trey White added three rebounds, each. Southwestern held a 43-38 rebounding advantage on the night.
Though his team fell, Byrd was responsible for 10 backboards in the tilt, which made him the game's top glass cleaner. After him, two Threshers added five rebounds (Yakubu and Jonas), and a pair also provided three (Christion Whitaker and Jalyn Todd). Four of the final five Bethel boards were split evenly between Richardson and Mocaby.
Southwestern had just two steals and a block on the defensive end, as O'Brien collected all three. While their takeaway numbers may not have been that impressive, their shot prevention was world-class, as they held Bethel to just 37.3% from the field in the victory.
Bethel tallied six steals in the bout, but did not block a shot. The trio of Yakubu, Byrd, and Richardson divvied up the steals evenly, nabbing two each. The Threshers did hold Southwestern to just 40.7% from the field, but fouled them at a heavy rate, allowing a 26-of-27 night at the charity stripe for the Builders.
With the Moundbuilders' (25-6) victory, they became the second team from the KCAC to punch their ticket to the NAIA National Championship Opening Round with an automatic berth. Bethel (20-10) will have to wait on the NAIA Selection Show on Thursday, March 2 to learn if they will be receiving an at-large bid to the national tournament.