ORANGE CITY, Iowa – The Saint Mary-of-the-Woods men's basketball team made their debut in the NAIA National Basketball Tournament and behind 34 points from
Cobie Barnes led at halftime before falling at No. 13 Northwestern (Iowa) by the score of 102-87. The Pomeroys were the 12
th-seeded team in the Naismith Quadrant while Northwestern is seeded fifth.
SMWC compiled a 25-7 record on the year while Northwestern improved to 24-7. The Woods set a new school record with 25 victories this season and advanced to the NAIA Nationals for the first time in any men's sport. Barnes was named the River States Conference Player & Newcomer of the Year while first-year head coach
Jesse McClung was the RSC Coach of the Year.
Barnes led the way with 34 points in the contest – just one off his season high and only three behind the single-game school record. He hit 13-of-29 shots from the field including seven 3-pointers. He added 10 rebounds for the double-double.
Greg Jenkins added 18 points with five rebounds while
Shon Tupuola tied for the team high with 10 rebounds and led the way with five blocked shots.
Also in double figures scoring was
Greg Johnson with 12 points including a pair of 3-pointers while
DaMeriz Merriweather added 11 points and nine rebounds. Overall the Poms hit 10 3-point field goals and shot 43.2 percent from the field.
For Northwestern, Alex Van Kalsbeek scored 37 points as they hit 52.8 percent of their shots from the field.
The Woods scored the game's first six points including a pair of buckets from Barnes before the Red Raiders scored their first basket one minute and a half in. A 3-pointer from Barnes with 16:02 on the clock stretch the Woods advantage out to 11-5. The Woods would trail by three points late in the first half but SMWC would surge ahead on a 7-0 spurt capped by Barnes with 5:07 remaining to stake them to a 34-30 lead. A tip-in from Merriweather as the halftime buzzer sounded pushed the Woods lead to 47-43 at the break.
After the Red Raiders tied the contest early in the second half
Greg Jenkins drilled a 3-pointer with 18:04 to push the Woods back ahead. A Jenkins dunk with 16:26 remaining knotted the contest at 54, but the Red Raiders would score the next five before
Greg Johnson drilled a 3-pointer to keep it a one possession contest. 3-pointers by Barnes on consecutive possessions as the clock ticked towards the 11 minute mark got SMWC within 67-65. Northwestern would score nine of the next 11 to get a lead out near double digits.
A Barnes triple with 5:49 remaining got SMWC within five points at 80-75 but the Red Raiders did most of their damage at the charity stripe the rest of the way in the victory. Jenkins connected on a lay-up with 20 seconds remaining for the final points of the year as Northwestern earned the 102-87 victory.
