POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. –
Emanuel Morgan had a game-winning 10-foot floater rattle out at the buzzer, as No. 1 ranked Union College outlasted the College of Idaho, 83-82, in a second-round game at the NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Championship, inside Keeter Gymansium.
The Coyotes (24-10) rallied from 10 points down in the second half to take an 82-81 lead on an
Aitor Zubizarreta runner with 24 seconds left. Union answered quickly, as Tyrone Sherman drove the length of the floor and converted a baseline runner with 12 seconds left to give the Bulldogs the lead. With two seconds left, the Yotes inbounded from the hashmark on the sideline, finding Morgan, who split a pair of defenders, but his runner from the middle of the paint rolled off the left side of the rim.
Union (32-3) used an 11-0 second half run to erase a 56-55 C of I lead, as Paul Stone scored 16 of his game-high 27 points in the second half. The Bulldogs led 79-71 with three minutes remaining, but the Coyotes battled back, getting three
Dominique Jordan free throws, a Zubizarreta 3-pointer and a Zubizarreta 3-point play, to cut the margin to 81-80 with a minute left – setting up the wild finish.
Zubizarreta led the Yotes with 21 points in his final C of I game, with Morgan scoring 17 points in his 134th and final game in the Purple and Gold.
Joey Nebeker scored 17 points – but fouled out with five minutes remaining – finishing his career with 1,402 points.
C of I made 55-percent of their field goal attempts, but connected on just 4-of-18 3-point attempts. The Yotes held a 33-29 rebound edge against the No. 3 rebound margin team in the NAIA.
Sherman had 22 points and Jaylen Daniel scored 16 for UC – who moves on to meet Trinity International in the national quarterfinals. The Bulldogs won despite making just 41-percent from the field in the second half and 1-of-9 3-pointers in the final 20 minutes.
NOTES: C of I is now 6-5 all-time in NAIA second-round games;
Scott Garson ends the season with 99 career wins;
Roosevelt Adams led all players with 11 rebounds, while the Yotes limited Gerrard Newby, UC's leading scorer, to just four points and five rebounds.
