The Lowdown: No. 14 Mid-America Christian University vs. No. 23 Campbellsville (Ky.)
Time: Mar. 21 @ 6 p.m.
Location: Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Mo.
Ticket Info: Click HERE or call the NAIA National Office @ 816-595-8142
Live Broadcast: (With a paid subscription, $9.95 for single-day pass, $29.95 for tournament pass)
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The Dish on the Evangels: The No. 14-ranked and fourth-seeded Mid-America Christian University Evangels continued their historic run by clinching their first-ever Buffalo Funds-NAIA Fab Four berth with a 77-73 victory over the fifth-seeded and No. 21-ranked Cumberlands (Ky.) Patriots. The victory puts the Evangels at 26-9 on the season, their most wins since joining the NAIA in 2007.
Devonse Reed produced perhaps the biggest stretch of the game, hitting a three and then a putback that snapped a 64-64 tie and put the Evangels up by five with 3:39 to play.
"Devonse stepped up and made a couple of late shot-clock possessions for us, and it seemed like on the offensive end both teams were really guarding well," said MACU head coach Josh Gamblin.
"It was a grind effort by both groups and our group just made a couple more plays down the stretch."
The Evangels never trailed from that point, but had to hang on and hit big free throws down the stretch.
Nick Tate hit two free throws to push the Evangels lead to 71-65, but the Patriots came back within one behind six straight points from D'Lando Carter with 24 seconds left.
Bryon Miller then connected on one of two at the foul line and following a big defensive stop by the Evangels, Miller came back to the charity stripe and nailed two free throws that built the lead to 75-71 with 10 seconds left.
After Xavier Owens scored quickly for the Patriots to make it a two-point game, Reed stepped up with two critical free throws to put it away for the Evangels.
Reed and Miller each scored 17 points to lead the Evangels, while Miller also equaled his career-high with a team-leading 11 rebounds. Chris Runnels scored 15 and blocked one shot, giving him a school single-season record 56 swats. Runnels also dished out a career and team-high five assists and hit seven-of-eight at the foul line.
Tate currently leads the Evangels in both points (15.7 ppg) and rebounds (6.8 rpg), with Reed close behind in scoring with 15.6 ppg. Miller is third in scoring with 13.4 ppg and has hit 82 threes, while Jerrick Massenburge is averaging 12.1 ppg with a team-high 84 makes from beyond the arc. Malcolm Mann has dished out a team-high 172 assists on the season, just one shy of tying the school's single-season record as an NAIA school. Runnels is also scoring in double-figures with 11.4 ppg and has a team-best and school single-season record 56 blocks.
The Dish on the Tigers: The No. 23-ranked and sixth-seeded Campbellsville University (Ky.) Tigers have won seven of their past eight games to come in at 25-10 overall. The Tigers dispatched of Carroll (Mont.) 83-67 in the quarterfinal round to reach the NAIA Fab Four.
Dii'jon Allen-Jordan is pacing the Tigers in points (17.1 ppg), rebounds (9.5 rpg) and blocks (66) this season. Sekou Harris is second in scoring with 15.8 ppg and has recorded a team-best 174 assists on the season. Hagen Tyler is third in scoring at 14.1 ppg and has hit a team-high 110 threes on the season. Roderick Lawrence is also scoring in double-figures with 13.0 ppg.
The Series: This will be the first matchup between the Evangels and Tigers since MACU became an NAIA school in 2007.
Road to the Fab Four: MACU: def. Park (Mo.) 88-86, Biola (Calif.) 88-80, Cumberlands (Ky.) 77-73. Campbellsville (Ky.): def. Texas Wesleyan 91-88, Dillard (La.) 81-73, Carroll (Mont.) 83-67.
Common Opposition: The Evangels and Tigers' common opposition this year has been Philander Smith (MACU: 1-1, CU: 1-0), Cumberlands (Ky.) (MACU: 1-0, CU: 1-1) and Texas Wesleyan (MACU: 0-2, CU: 1-0).
Fact of the Century: Under first-year head coach Josh Gamblin, the Evangels have scored 100 or more points on 10 occasions this year, already more than any other season since joining the NAIA. In fact, the Evangels had only reached the century mark 11 times in the eight combined prior seasons as an NAIA school. MACU is 9-1 when scoring at least 100 points this season, but have lost all four times they've allowed the opposition to reach the century mark.
The Coaches:
Josh Gamblin is in his first season as the head coach of the Mid-America Christian University men's basketball program. Gamblin's impact has been immediate, guiding the Evangels to a school-best (as an NAIA school) 26-9 record thus far this season and the program's first-ever appearance in the NAIA Fab Four.
Gamblin comes to MACU from the University of Oklahoma, where he was a Graduate Assistant Coach under Head Coach Lon Kruger. There he assisted in all practices and logged scout games. Gamblin also worked with coaches on opponent scouting reports for a squad that advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament last season.
"We really appreciate all of Josh's assistance during his time with the Sooners and I know he'll do a fantastic job," Kruger said. "MACU is lucky to have him."
Prior to arriving at OU, Gamblin served two-years at Southwestern Christian University (SCU) as lead Assistant Coach on Head Coach Quinn Wooldridge's staff. Gamblin's duties at SCU involved recruiting, leading film sessions and analyzing opponent's scouting reports.
During the 2011-12 basketball season, Gamblin worked in the NBA as the Intern Video Coordinator for the Los Angeles Clippers under then-Head Coach Vinny Del Negro. Gamblin helped prepare pre-game scouting reports for the Clippers, as well as logging all opponent games and being involved in coaches meetings. His efforts with the Clippers led to the best winning percentage in team history.
"Josh has worked at the highest level and continually strives to learn and become a better coach each day," Del Negro said. "He is constantly working to improve his craft and striving for excellence is everything he does."
Off the court, Gamblin has served as Clippers' All-Star Forward Blake Griffin's Summer Basketball Trainer for the past three seasons. Gamblin helped Griffin prepare for upcoming basketball seasons by working on a number of offensive and defensive drills—specifically pick and roll coverages, low post moves and ball handling drills.
Gamblin's collegiate-athlete experience includes, but not limited to: competed at SCU on the Men's Basketball team from 2007-11; Varsity Captain (twice); named SCU Male Newcomer of the Year in 2008; and selected as Team MVP for the 2011 season. Additional honors include: Association of Christian College Athletics (ACCA) Honorable-Mention All-America honors in 2010; a Midlands Collegiate Athletic All-Conference selection in 2011; and named "Mr. Southwestern" in 2011, (awarded to the student who exemplifies the values, traditions and spirit of SCU). After the 2011 season, Gamblin received the Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference Scholar Athlete award.
He graduated from SCU in 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and is currently enrolled in the IAA Master's program at the University of Oklahoma.
Gamblin and his wife Jennifer live in Oklahoma City with their infant son Miles.
Keith Adkins is in his 16th season at the helm of the Campbellsville University Tigers. Adkins has led the Tigers to eight 20-win seasons and a pair of Mid-South conference championships. Last season, Adkins was named the Mid-South and NAIA/NABC Coach of the Year.
Up Next: With a win, the Evangels will make their first-ever NAIA National Championship game appearance and face the winner of Georgetown (Ky.) and MidAmerica Nazarene tomorrow night (Mar. 22) at 7:02 p.m. The title game will be broadcast on ESPN3.
