The NCAA News - News and Features

March 31, 1997

CLOSE CALL

Cal State Bakersfield fends off Northern Kentucky to win II men's basketball title

In a game that saw nine lead changes in the second half, Cal State Bakersfield defeated Northern Kentucky, 57-56, to win the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship March 22 in Louisville, Kentucky.

For a while, Cal State Bakersfield coach Pat Douglass said, he didn't think he would have to take off his jacket. That's how well his team played early in the championship game.

The Roadrunners built a 13-point lead over Northern Kentucky and looked unstoppable. But that lead became a one-point deficit at the half, and Douglass knew it was time for the jacket to come off.

Only when an eight-foot jumper by Northern Kentucky's Andy Listerman missed with two seconds left in the game did the Roadrunners clinch their third Elite Eight title in the last five years.

"I said yesterday in the press conference that it would be a great game, and it was a great game," Douglass said. "It was hard-fought and went down to the wire. The keys were Jon Gaines' defense on Paul Cluxton and Michael's (Jackson) and Kebu's (Stewart) defense on LaRon Moore. Michael's and Kebu's rebounding was big. Another key was when they went big. It became a bruiser game, which favors us. Tempo was what we wanted -- a game in the 50s."

Stewart made two free throws in two trips to the line in the last minute to maintain the Roadrunners' one-point lead. However, he missed four free throws that could have put the game out of reach for Cal State Bakersfield.

Neither team shot the ball well -- from anywhere. Cal State Bakersfield made just 35 percent of its shots from the field and only 54 percent from the line. Northern Kentucky shot 43 percent from the field and a woeful 29 percent from the line.

Not that Cluxton contributed to Northern Kentucky's foul-shooting problems. He was three-of-three for the tournament and finished the year 94-of-94, the first time any NCAA player in any division has won the free-throw championship with a 100 percent mark. Counting back to last year, Cluxton made 98 consecutive free throws.

"We gave up too many offensive rebounds and we didn't shoot free throws very well," Northern Kentucky coach Ken Shields said. "We were just outrebounded and we did not get to the line. Bakersfield is a very strong, athletic basketball team. I have to give them a lot of credit. They kept us from doing a lot of things that we like to do on the offensive end."

Stewart led all players with 18 points and 21 rebounds. Gaines added 15 points and Jackson had 11 points to go along with his 11 rebounds. Northern Kentucky was paced by Cliff Clinton and Shannon Minor, who each scored 12 points.

Cal State Bakersfield finished with a 29-4 record. Northern Kentucky ended the season at 30-5.

The all-tournament team included Clinton, Cluxton, Minor and Stewart and Salem-Teikyo's Terrance Springer. Stewart was the tournament's most outstanding player.

SEMIFINALS

Cal St. Bakersfield 81, Salem-Teikyo 68

Salem-Teikyo: Carl Bohannan 3-9, 0-2, 6, 7; T. Springer 4-8, 2-2, 5, 11; Chris Battley 3-3, 0-0, 2, 6; Melvin Roberts 4-14, 5-5, 4, 14; Tommy Feagin 5-20, 4-4, 5, 17; Mark Hughes 1-4, 2-2, 2, 4; Leroy Blyden 4-5, 1-8, 8, 9; Tony Washington 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Pete Thompson 0-1, 0-0, 1, 0; Charles Davis 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0; Jun Okayama 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Ron Lee 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. TOTALS: 24-65, 14-23, 35 (2 team), 68.

Cal St. Bakersfield: Michael Jackson 2-5, 1-6, 10, 5; Jon Gaines 3-4, 3-4, 3, 11; Kebu Stewart 11-17, 7-12, 17, 29; Charles Woolfolk 0-3, 9-10, 3, 9; Marlon Johnson 4-13, 0-0, 4, 9; Eric Barnes 5-9, 1-3, 0, 12; Marco Brown 0-1, 4-6, 5, 4; Edmond Jackson 1-1, 0-0, 1, 2. TOTALS: 26-53, 25-41, 48 (5 team), 81.

Half time: Salem-Teikyo 37, Cal St. Bakersfield 36. Three-point field goals: Salem-Teikyo 6-22 (Bohannan 1-3, Springer 1-2, Roberts 1-6, Feagin 3-10, Davis 0-1); Cal St. Bakersfield 4-8 (Gaines 2-3, Johnson 1-4, Barnes 1-1). Disqualifications: Feagin, Johnson. Officials: Rich Ames, Larry Birkett, Ken Gorrell. Attendance: 1,789.

Northern Ky. 79, Lynn 58

Lynn: J. Pritchett 3-13, 0-0, 3, 6; D. Montgomery 5-7, 0-0, 4, 10; Victor Axmacher 2-5, 2-3, 9, 6; Dante Maddox 1-4, 2-2, 2, 5; Coy Patterson 2-5, 2-2, 3, 6; Chris Davis 7-18, 1-2, 11, 15; Jarron Jones 2-10, 1-2, 4, 6; Kenny Anders 1-2, 0-1, 1, 2; Travis Hawthorne 0-1, 0-0, 1, 0; Harlan Brendel 1-1, 0-0, 0, 2; Matt Bixler 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. TOTALS: 24-66, 8-12, 40 (2 team), 58.

Northern Ky.: Paul Cluxton 7-9, 0-0, 2, 18; LaRon Moore 2-6, 2-2, 2, 7; Cliff Clinton 5-13, 3-4, 14, 13; Shannon Minor 4-10, 6-6, 3, 18; Kevin Listerman 1-3, 2-2, 1, 4; Demond Lane 3-6, 0-1, 4, 7; Andy Listerman 2-6, 0-0, 3, 4; Todd Clark 3-4, 0-0, 4, 6; Mitch Perdrix 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0; Jason James 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Mike Veith 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0; John Gibson 1-1, 0-0, 0, 2. TOTALS: 28-58, 3-15, 37 (2 team), 79.

Half time: Northern Ky. 35, Lynn 28. Three-point field goals: Lynn 2-12 (Pritchett 0-2, Maddox 1-3, Patteron 0-1, Jones 1-5, Hawthorne 0-1); Northern Ky. 10-18 (Cluxton 4-5, Moore 1-1, Clinton 0-1, Minor 4-7, Lane 1-3, Listerman 0-1). Disqualifications: None. Officials: Ron Filson, Bill Mallory, Mike Peterson. Attendance: 1,789.

CHAMPIONSHIP

Cal St. Bakersfield 57,

Northern Ky. 56

Cal St. Bakersfield: Michael Jackson 5-14, 1-1, 11, 11; Jon Gaines 5-9, 0-0, 2, 15; Kebu Stewart 6-13, 6-12, 21, 18; Charles Woolfolk 2-11, 0-0, 5, 4; Marlon Johnson 3-9, 0-0, 5, 6; Eric Barnes 1-4, 0-0, 0, 3; Marco Brown 0-2, 0-0, 1, 0; Edmond Jackson 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0. TOTALS: 22-63, 7-13, 46 (1 team), 57.

Northern Ky.: Paul Cluxton 2-6, 0-0, 2, 5; LaRon Moore 3-8, 0-0, 6, 6; Cliff Clinton 6-12, 0-0, 11, 12; Shannon Minor 4-9, 2-3, 3, 12; Kevin Listerman 0-3, 0-0, 2, 0; Demond Lane 3-8, 0-2, 4, 5; Andy Listerman 3-7, 0-0, 1, 7; Todd Clark 4-5, 0-2, 3, 8. TOTALS: 25-58, 2-7, 35 (3 team), 56.

Half time: Northern Ky. 30, Cal St. Bakersfield 29. Three-point field goals: Cal St. Bakersfield 6-14 (Gaines 5-8, Woolfolk 0-1, Johnson 0-2, Barnes 1-2, Brown 0-1); Northern Ky. 4-18 (Cluxton 1-4 Moore 0-1, Minor 2-6, K. Listerman 0-2, Lane 0-1, A. Listerman 1-4). Disqualifications: None. Officials: Ron Filson, Bill Mallory, Mike Peterson. Attendance: 2,840.