NAIA No. 3-ranked University of St. Francis saw York College (Neb.) wipe out 10-point deficits in both the first and second half to land one of only two upsets in opening-round action of the NAIA II Men’s Basketball National Tournament late Thursday night when the Panthers stunned the Saints 87-79.
The loss ended USF’s best-ever season in terms of winning percentage (.875) and tied the school record for the most wins in a single season with 28 opposite just four setbacks.
“Why people love collegiate March basketball is because it’s the drama of one-and-done,” said USF head coach Ryan Marks. “It’s not about being the best team over the course of a number of games. You have to be the best on that particular night and to York’s credit they were that team in this game.
“They were the aggressor defensively tonight and forced us into uncharacteristic turnovers. They also had the big momentum swinging plays.”
The first momentum swing came at the end of the first half when York’s Josh Bates hit a buzzer-beating jumper from the corner to completely wipe out the Saints’ initial ten-point lead (30-20 with 7:29 to play) and send both teams to the locker room tied at 42.
The even bigger swings came in the second half when York (24-9) rallied from a 59-49 deficit with 14:48 remaining in the contest. The Panthers first went on an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 59-57 before eventually grabbing the lead back for the first time since early in the contest at 63-62 with 10:06 to play. Two ties ensued after that before York went on a clinching 11-2 run to pull away 81-72 with 110 seconds left.
Senior Jens Kennedy (Dwight, Ill./ Dwight) did all he could to try to offset 20 turnovers and both a 5-of-21 mark from three-point range (.238) and a 24-of-36 report (.667) from the foul line. The Saints came into the contest averaging fewer than 14 turnovers per game and ranked second in NAIA II in free throw percentage (.780). Kennedy finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season.
“As a coach, you always hope that your seniors play up to their capabilities as they inch closer to the end of their careers,” said Marks. “Jen’s has made such a transformation in his three years with us and I am so proud of him. It was great to see him play at the level that he did tonight.
“As for the turnovers and the free throw shooting, those were two areas that have been favorable for us over the course of the year. In both halves, we got into foul trouble and that seemed to make us tentative and was part of the reason why we got out of synch.”
York also did a solid job of keeping Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year Ilya Ilyayev (Los Angeles, Calif./ Palisades) from being a key piece to the Saints’ offense. He finished with 11 points, but was limited to just five field goal attempts.
“York did a really energetic job of limiting Ilya’s touches,” noted Marks. “Some of our remediation for that style of defense did not work because we did not execute and accommodate further.”
Kennedy and Ilyayev were the only Saints to score in double figures, while York totaled three players, including two that hit the 20-point mark. Cameron Coleman finished with 22 points and eight rebounds, while Johnny Cooksey poured in 21 with four three-pointers included. Michael Johnson also came off the bench to net 11 points.
The loss did not deter Marks from complimenting his team on a historic season.
“The totality of what this team has accomplished makes me tremendously proud as a coach,” closed Marks. “The won-loss record indicates that you are a good team, but even more than that was the quality of the basketball and the way that the team embraced one another and who they are as people both on and off the court.”