WATCH Mann's incredible buzzer-beating game-winner BOX SCORE
KANSAS CITY – In what will forever be known in Mid-America Christian University lore as the "drive for a championship", Malcolm Mann took the ball with four seconds left, drove the court and put in a game-winning layup that spun around and found the net to give the No. 14-ranked and fourth-seeded MACU Evangels a thrilling 100-99 overtime victory over the No. 1-ranked and top-seeded Georgetown (Ky.) Tigers and their first ever Buffalo-Funds NAIA National Championship tonight (Mar. 22) in the historic Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.
After a review of the monitor to make sure Mann got the shot off before the clock expired, it was officially ruled good that sent the Evangels into championship euphoria.
Mann's championship winning score finished off a career night of 23 points for the junior guard.
"If I didn't see anyone within two seconds I was taking it myself," Mann said. "I lost the ball for a little bit and by the grace of God it went in."
MACU head coach Josh Gamblin (just turned 27 years old), the youngest coach to ever win a Men's National championship at the four-year level, was named the Rawlings-NAIA Head Coach of the Year after guiding the Evangels to their first-ever NAIA National title in his first season at the helm.
"We played a tough schedule, we're tested and we have a lot of transfers," Gamblin said. "They love each and play for each other and when you do that, good things tend to happen."
On Mann's last shot, Gamblin stated, "I don't think we even got Malcom a screen but four seconds for him is a lifetime, he got what he wanted and it was a tremendous finish."
The Evangels win over the top-ranked Tigers snapped their 11-game winning streak, the second time this tourney MACU has halted such a streak after beating Biola in the second round.
The extra session had gone back and forth and the Tigers appeared to have the edge when Trent Gilbert hit his first shot of the game, a go-ahead three with four seconds remaining.
Trailing the entire way, the Evangels used a 9-0 run and a jumper by Devonse Reed gave MACU its first lead of the game at 80-79 with 2:07 left.
Tony Kimbro answered for the Tigers with one free throw and then a score inside to put Georgetown back in front 82-80 with 46 seconds left.
The Evangels came back down and got a layup from Chris Runnels that tied the score with 21 seconds remaining and eventually sent the game into the overtime period.
Down by double-digits much of the first half and 11 at the half, the Evangels made their charge back behind back-to-back threes by Reed and a trey from Bryon Miller that cut the deficit to 55-52, the closest MACU had been since early in the first half.
After Noah Cottrill briefly halted the run with a three, a score inside from Nick Tate and consecutive driving layups by Mann brought the Evangels even at 60-60.
The Tigers scored the next four, but the Evangels continued to hang in and came within one at 68-67 on a layup from Chris Runnels.
Georgetown regained some separation by scoring the next seven points for an eight-point lead with 8:56 remaining.
The Tigers missed their first six shots from two-point distance to begin the game but were red-hot from the perimeter, hitting their first six shots from beyond the arc. Four of those treys came from Kimbro that helped Georgetown build a double-digit lead of 25-15 through the first 10 minutes of the contest.
Georgetown kept the Evangels at arm's length the rest of the period as Kimbro nailed his fifth trey of the half to give the Tigers a 50-39 lead at the break.
In addition to the Tigers' hot-shooting from three-point distance, Deondre McWhorter had a double-double in the opening stanza of 13 points and 10 rebounds to help the Tigers build the opening half cushion.
Reed, named the Chuck Taylor Most Valuable Player for the tourney, scored a team-high 25 points.
"It's about helping my teammates," Reed said. "I know they have my back and I do my best to have their back."
Miller scored 16 and Tate had 14 points. Chris Runnels chipped in with 12 points.
Cotttrill led the Tigers (32-4) with 32 points and Kimbro had a double-double of 25 points and 12 rebounds. McWhorter also had a double-double of 21 points and 11 boards.
"We have really good players with very good kids and two great assistant coaches," Gamblin said.
"The administration has been great and the program was built well," Gamblin said. "We had a bad taste in our mouth from the conference tournament and we won a bunch of good, tough games in KC."
