Falcons Beat Kutztown For First NCAA Tourney Win In 13 Years

Falcons Beat Kutztown For First NCAA Tourney Win In 13 Years

March 13, 2010

WEST LIBERTY, WVa. - Third-seed Saint Augustine's College relied on its usual weapons - defense, rebounding and depth - to knock off No. 6 Kutztown 70-54 Saturday in an NCAA Division II Atlantic Region first-round game at ASRC on West Liberty University's campus.

The Falcons (27-4) advance to Sunday's regional semifinals at 7 p.m. where they will meet either No. 2 seed West Liberty or No. 7 seed Alderson Broaddus at ASRC. The regional win was the first for the Falcons since 1997 when they beat N.C. Central 78-66 to reach the regional finals.

Coming off a two-week layup after winning the CIAA title, the Falcons were rusty early but eventually gained settled down and looked like the team that dominated the CIAA this season. They held the Golden Bears (23-8) to season-lows in points (54) and field goal shooting (27 percent). The Golden Bears average 80 points a game.

Kutztown's Stephen Dennis, the nation's leading scorer with a 26.6 average, scored a game-high 20 points but only made 6 of 22 shots. The Falcons also controlled the backboards, outrebounding the Golden Bulls 59-39.

What the Falcons achieved isn't much of a surprise considering they lead the nation in field goal percentage defense (35.8) and rank third nationally in rebounding margin (+10.4). WIth nine players playing at least 14 minutes, the Falcons simply wore down the Golden Bears, who only dressed nine players.

"We hadn't played in two weeks so we started sluggish," said Falcon Head Coach Lonnie Blow, Jr., the 2010 CIAA men's basketball coach of the year. "We didn't get off to a good start, but we have depth and the guys off the bench gave us a lift."

Steven Brignol (Sr./Brooklyn, NY) was one of the reserves who contributed to the victory. Brignol grabbed 11 rebounds off the bench to tie for game-high honors. Reserves Jeremy Banks (So./Elizabeth City, NC) added 10 points and six rebounds, and Nick Chamblee (Fr./Hampton, Va.) scored seven points for the Falcons.

Their production in additon to 18 points and nine rebounds from Hayward Fain (Jr./Akron, OH) and 12 points from Chris Jordan (Sr./Houston, TX) offset 20 points from Dennis, 13 points from Julius Gray and 11 points and 11 rebounds from Tamir Johnson of the Golden Bears.

With a large contingent of fans making the eight-hour trek from Raleigh, N.C. to cheer them on, the Falcons opened a 30-21 halftime lead. They never looked back in the second half, opening a 56-39 lead on two Fain free throws with 5:28 left in the game.

"We hadn't played in two weeks so there was a lot of anxiety at first," Jordan said. "It felt like we were going 100 miles an hour, but we settled down and played our game."

As a result, the Falcons are headed to the second round of the tournament.