KANSAS CITY, Mo. – After a solid performance in the NAIA National Championship first round, topping No. 6-seed Grand View (Iowa) 79-62, third-seeded University of Pikeville advances to face No. 2-seed Columbia (Mo.) at 6:45 p.m. ET on Friday in Municipal Auditorium.
NAIANetwork.com will have a live stream of the game on a pay-per-view basis ($9.95 game/$29.95 tournament pass) and Z1075 FM in Pikeville will have the call on the air and online. There will also be live stats on the NAIA DakStats site and updates on Twitter @UPIKEAthletics.
UPIKE eliminated Grand View behind a game-best 22 points from Clint Nwosuh, while Darrion Leslie added a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds as the Bears shot 50 percent from the field.
Columbia made it to the round of 16 by getting past No. 7-seed Lewis Clark State (Idaho) 71-59 on Thursday afternoon. The Cougars are 26-6 overall and are led by head coach Bob Burchard in his 29th season with an overall record of 745-248.
Burchard has led Columbia to 21 appearances in the national tournament, including a current streak of seven straight trips. The Cougars advanced to the national championship game in 2009.
The Cougars do a lot of things well, ranking fourth nationally in 3-point percentage (40.7), eighth in scoring defense (66.8 ppg) and ninth in scoring margin at +14.5 points per contest. However, Columbia came into the tournament off two straight losses, including a 78-73 loss to Missouri Baptist in the first round of the AMC Tournament.
Malik Ray has blocked an NAIA fifth-best 64 shots this season and Hank Matthews ranks 13th nationally in 3-point percentage (46.3). Nic Reynolds makes the offense go, scoring a team-best 13.9 points per game.
Against Lewis Clark State on Thursday, Reynolds scored 26 points and hit 3 3-pointers and shot 7-of-10 from the stripe.
UPIKE is meeting Columbia for the first time in program history and has a 3-1 record in first-round games. Once past the second round, the Bears are 4-2 combined the rest of the way. This is the Bears' first time receiving a No. 3 seed.
Friday's winner advances to the national quarterfinals on Saturday to face either No. 1-seed LSU-Alexandria (La.) or No. 5-seed Westmont (Calif.) at 6:30 p.m.
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