Aquinas College could not overcome the home crowd advantage in the opening round of the NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship and lost 71-60 to the tournament's host school. In their fourth consecutive appearance, the loss eliminated the Saints from the tournament.

Held at Keeter Gymnasium on the campus of College of the Ozarks (Mo.), Aquinas faced a competitive Bobcat squad and a vocal crowd. A back-and-forth game throughout the first half, Aquinas pulled to within two points, 26-24, at intermission on a three-point goal by John Lierman with seconds remaining on the clock.

The Saints knotted the score at 26-26 at the start of the second half, but missed a couple key shots to allow Ozarks a 7-0 run. The run proved fatal for Aquinas as the Saints relinquished the lead and were never able to close the gap.

Bobcat Corey Stone led all scorers with 36 points, 24 of which came in the second half. Ozarks.

Lierman finished with 20 points and a tournament-high six three-pointers while Pedja Lezic added 19. James Telman was the only other Saint to finish in double figures with 11 points. Aquinas' season ends at 24-10.


NAIA Release   |   Aquinas Release
Bracket     |   Box Score