C of O Basketball Season Wrap-Up for Men, Women May Move On

Both College of the Ozarks Basketball teams lost in Regional Play last week but the Women still have a shot at moving on to the NCCAA National Tournament.

The Men lost to BBC in the regional in Springfield 73-62 while the Lady Bobcats lost in the Central Regional Final in Oklahoma to Southwest Christian 62-49. 

While the Men conclude their season, the Women with a National Power Ranking at Number Four may receive an At-Large Bid to next week's Division 1 Tournament in Winona Lake, Indiana. The announcement of the field of teams will be made later this week. 

A complete recap of the final games of the season from College of the Ozarks Sports Information is below:

Women

The College of the Ozarks Lady Bobcats traveled to Bethany Oklahoma Friday for the NCCAA Central Regional Championship. A rare cold shooting night was more than the Lady Cats could overcome and Southwestern Christian took the contest, 62-49.

The Lady Cats jumped on the board early with an Annie Noah basket, but the Eagles quickly responded. The Lady Cat offense struggled to get going and Southwestern Christian began to heat up. As the Eagles began to pull away, Coach Mullis called a timeout to rally the troops. Trailing 13-2 with 3:09 remaining in the opening frame the signal was clear, it was time to regroup. A Kyra Hardesty three with :52 left in the quarter closed out the scoring and the Lady Cats were in a deep hole, 19-5 at the break.

The Eagles started the scoring in the second quarter and the Lady Cats were not able to respond until a three by Katie Mayes with 8:29 left in the half. Kyra Hardesty scored at the 7:03 mark and another dry spell began. The Lady Cat defense stepped, however, and kept the gap from growing further. Kayley Frank drained a pair of free throws and Annie Noah connected inside to cut into the lead, but the Eagles responded. A pair of Frank free throws with :03 left in the half cut the gap to 31-16 and the Lady Cats had work to do. 

The Eagles opened the scoring in the third quarter and Blythe Benefield answered for the Lady Cats.  The teams traded baskets until a 6-0 run by the Eagles took things from bad to worse. Trailing 42-20 with 4:09 left in the third quarter, the Lady Cats needed another timeout. Kayley Frank and Michelle Gabani scored four unanswered points, but the Eagles came back with six straight of their own. Neither team scored as time ran down in the third quarter until Annie Noah connected on a free throw with :10 remaining. The final break came and the Lady Cat deficit was 48-25. 

The fourth quarter saw the Lady Cats continuing to claw their way back into contention. With the large deficit, things were not looking good for the final 10 minutes. The teams traded points early in the quarter, but a 13-2 Lady Cat run made things interesting and the Eagles needed a timeout. An Andrade Thamires basket broke the SWCU silence and another pair of free throws extended the lead. Annie Noah, Blythe Benefield, and Kayley Frank combined to close out the Lady Cat scoring. Unfortunately, the deficit from the opening quarter and the struggles from the field were too much to overcome. In what was arguably one of the roughest shooting nights for the Lady Cats in a long time, the 14-47 from the field, 5-11 from three, and 16-25 from the line is something not likely to be seen again for another long stretch. 

Kayley Frank led the Lady Cats with 16 points.  Annie Noah chipped in nine and Blythe Benefield contributed seven. Kyra Hardesty, Katie Mayes, and Stevi Jones each tacked on five and Michelle Gabani added two.

The Lady Cat’s NCCAA power rating is number four in the nation which makes them strong favorites to receive an At-Large bid to the NCCAA DI National Championship Tournament. The tournament will be played in Winona Lake, Indiana March 16-19.  More information will be forthcoming once the tournament field is released. 

Men

The College of the Ozarks Bobcats opened NCCAA Regional play Thursday looking to finish strong and extend their season into March. Traveling to Baptist Bible College, the Bobcats were set to face the Patriots for the second time in a week and the third time this season. The Patriots had taken the first two contests and the Bobcats knew they would have to play well to keep their post-season hopes alive.

The first half was a battle from the opening tip as the teams traded baskets.  The Patriots took the early lead, but the Bobcats stormed back and set the tone early. BBC opened the game on a 7-2 run, but Matt Luebbert hit the first three shots for the Bobcats to get things rolling. The Bobcats took their first lead on a Tanner Rogers basket at the 15:37 mark but BBC quickly responded. C of O continued to apply pressure and regained the lead on the next possession. The teams traded baskets over the next three minutes and with 12:20 remaining in the half, the score was knotted at 18-18. The defense for both teams then took over and neither team could find the bottom of the net. At the 9:07 mark, the Patriots broke through to regain the lead, 20-18. Blain Cline answered for the Bobcats and Tanner Diaz put the Bobcats back on top. Ties and lead changes would continue until BBC went up 28-25 with 4:56 remaining. Cooper Long drained a three with 1:36 left in the half to get the Bobcats to within one, 32-31, but a pair of Tre Flowers free throws gave the Patriots a 34-31 advantage heading into the break.

The Bobcats started strong in the second half and continued to keep pace with the Patriots. A Tanner Diaz three at the 18:11 mark tied the score 38-38. It looked as though this game would go down to the wire. The Patriots answered the challenge and continued to hold onto a narrow advantage.  Trailing 42-40, Tanner Diaz tied it again with a mid-range jumper. BBC answered again and Diaz responded. Diaz drained a three with 13:57 remaining and the score was knotted up 45-45. BBC could not shake the Bobcats, but they did all that was necessary to maintain a slight advantage. Pulling away slightly, the Patriots sank a free throw to go up 51-45.  Tanner Rogers scored on the next possession and the BBC lead was back to four with 11:54 left to play. Another Patriot basket extended the gap to six and the biggest advantage they’d enjoyed since the early going. Things then began to get shaky. The Bobcats hit a cold streak offensively and the Patriots began to capitalize. A Ryker Strong basket at the 9:25 mark extended the gap to eight and forced a Bobcat timeout. The cold shooting continued out of the huddle and the Bobcats did not find the bottom of the net again until the 7:41 mark. Fortunately for the Bobcats, the Patriots luck had not been much better, and the gap stood at seven, 56-49. Points were coming in at a trickling pace for the Bobcats, but the Patriots managed to get into more of a flow. Slowly the lead began to grow, and the Bobcats were not heating up offensively. A pair of Josh Linehan free throws cut the gap to eight with 5:29 remaining but there was not a good feeling among the Bobcat faithful in attendance. A pair of BBC free throws and a basket extended the gap to 12 and the Bobcats time was running out. Another BBC free throw made it 69-56 with 3:36 remaining. The Bobcats were still struggling to score, and the Patriots were building their lead. As time continued to run down, five straight points by Andrew Mitchell cut the lead to 73-62 but the Bobcats ran out of time and could not get any closer. 

The Bobcats were led by Cooper Long with 14 points, Tanner Diaz with 13, and Tanner Rogers with 11. Matt Luebbert chipped in nine, Andrew Mitchell added seven, and Josh Linehan and Blaine Cline each contributed four. 

The loss concluded the season for the Bobcats. With no seniors on this year’s squad, the younger players for the Bobcats gained some valuable experience and will look to build on that experience in the future.