Ambassadors fall in semifinals of MCCC tournament

Feb. 17—They say it's hard to beat a good team three times in a season. That might have been what took place on Friday evening in a semifinal matchup of the Midwest Christian College Conference tournament between Ozark Christian and Faith Baptist Bible College at Barclay College in Haviland, Kansas.

The OCC men's basketball team fell to FBBC 93-90 in overtime.

The second-seeded Ambassadors (17-8) had topped the third-seeded Eagles (14-12) twice in the regular season but trailed for the majority of the second half in this one.

In fact, the deficit got to be as many as 10 at one point. Sophomore Seth Freeman drilled a three to put FBBC up 55-45. The Eagles maintained that separation for a little while.

A triple from Chris Barnette made it 58-49. The Ambassadors cut it to a 5-point difference but then it was right back to 9 when Jared Conable stole an OCC pass at the top of the key and broke away for an easy layup to make it 62-53.

Ozark got back within 2 points for the first time since trailing 47-45. It got there by way of a Tyler Alarid layup to make it 68-66 with 4:19 to go. The differential never got larger than 5 the rest of the way. Alarid would again cut it to 2, this time with a reverse layup making it 78-76 with 57 seconds left.

OCC got a stop on the Eagles' next possession and Alarid was at it again. He buried a mid-range jumper to knot the teams at 78. The Ambassadors forced FBBC's top scorer, Barnette, to drive and kick the ball to teammate Jayce Goergen for an open trey on the final shot of regulation. Goergen's attempt was no good and that meant overtime.

Ozark began overtime with a missed triple and Faith immediately responded as Jared Pearson made a layup on the other end to begin the bonus five minutes with a lead.

Joel Pugh responded with a basket for OCC to tie it at 80 apiece.

The Eagles went on a small run and held an 88-82 advantage with two minutes left in the game.

Alarid missed the front end of a one-and-one to keep the score where it was. OCC would send FBBC to the charity stripe moments later and the Eagles got the same result — a miss on the first of a one-and-one opportunity.

Ozark took advantage. Josiah Beckenhauer came down and made his sixth 3-pointer of the game to bring the score to 88-85 with 43.5 seconds remaining in OT.

The Ambassadors fouled Barnette who cashed in on both attempts, 90-85. Alarid responded with a quick lay-in. Two more free ones came from Barnette. On the next possession, Aason Cross drilled a corner three to get his team back within two at 92-90 with 19 seconds to go.

Now in the double bonus, Barnette gave the ball up as multiple Ambassadors were chasing him in attempt to foul and stop the clock, so, potentially a lucky break for OCC as they were able to foul freshman Logan Fincham instead.

It appeared to work out perfectly. Fincham missed the first attempt and the second. But the rebound was tapped out and Barnette controlled it. The Ambassadors had to foul again with 8 seconds left. Barnette went just 1 for 2 this time and kept OCC in the game at 93-90. The senior was a perfect 4 for 4 on free shots in overtime before that miss.

Alarid raced up court and tried to hand it off to Beckenhauer for a triple but was fouled on the hand off, wisely, by Barnette. The foul sent Alarid to the line for a one-and-one and kept the game out of reach. At least momentarily.

The senior missed the front end with three seconds left. The rebound was knocked out just beyond the arc where Dylan Hidalgo picked it up for the Ambassadors. Hidalgo's last-second heave with multiple defenders on him hit off the backboard just above the square and came down without touching the rim as time expired and OCC came up just short.

Barnette totaled 38 points and scored 31 of them in the second half and overtime.

OCC was led by Alarid with 28 and Beckenhauer added 24. Cross and Pugh both scored 13 for the Ambassadors.

Ozark held Faith scoreless for the first five minutes of the game and led 7-0 before the Eagles made a shot.

The Eagles will play for the championship Saturday at 6:30 p.m. against the winner of No. 1 Manhattan Christian and No. 5 Emmaus Bible College. The Ambassadors will meet whoever loses that contest at 2:15 p.m. Saturday for third place.

OCC WOMEN

The Ozark Christian women's basketball team earned a first-round bye and met Calvary College on Friday evening.

The Ambassadors (20-3) cruised to a 32-7 advantage by intermission and the second half didn't look much different.

Emmary Williams began second-half scoring with a 3-pointer to help OCC keep momentum and roll to a 66-27 victory.

Top-seeded OCC will play in the championship of the tournament Saturday at 4 p.m. against third-seeded Barclay College, the host of the conference tournament, which knocked off No. 2 Faith on Friday 71-61.

Ozark beat Barclay in both regular-season meetings this year.