College Of Idaho Beats Indiana Tech 7371 For NAIA Title

KANSAS CITY, MO -

Jake O'Neill had 15 points and 12 rebounds as College of Idaho blew a 23-point second-half lead before pulling out a 73-71 win over Indiana Tech in the NAIA national championship game on Saturday night.

College of Idaho (36-1) has won a program-high 36 straight games and the longest hitting streak in men's college basketball (all divisions) following an 82-78 loss to Arizona Christian.

"He was unbelievable," Yotes coach Colby Blaine said. "Practically done."

This is the second national designation for the program. The College of Idaho won the NAIA Division II Championship in 1996.

Tyler Robinette hit two 3-pointers in his first 10-2 streak and College of Idaho never trailed. O'Neill had an offensive rebound and a layup and Robinette had 3 more to spark a 9-0 run that made it 19-4 with about seven minutes remaining and the Sevens leading 52-29 when Charles Elzey hit a 3-pointer in the 17th. :04. . play.

Indiana Tech (32-5), which has won five straight, scored 13 of its next 17 points before Jeremy Luciani's layup midway through the second half cut the deficit to 10 points. Blake Davison scored the Warriors' first five points in a 12-2 run that cut the game to two points with a minute left, and Grant Smith made 1 of 2 free throws to make it 72-71 with 12 seconds remaining. . .

Smith missed a potential tiebreaker just after the buzzer.

"This is the toughest team I've ever coached," Blaine said.

Samaje Morgan had 13 points, Robinette had 11, including three 3-pointers, and Elzey had 10 points for College of Idaho.

Rog Stein led Indiana Tech with 18 points and eight rebounds. Davison and Max Perez each had 12 points, and Josh Klein had 11 points and 8 rebounds.

The Warriors, who set the program's single-season batting record, rallied from a 16-point deficit to beat Georgetown University 80-71 in the semifinals to advance to the championship game for the first time in college history. school.

College of Idaho led 23 men in the second half to beat Ottawa Arizona 73-72 in the semifinals.

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