#MustangsWin! #14 CBC Upsets #11 Bethel To Secure A Spot In Round of 16 in Kansas City!

Erik Holth, CBC Sports Information Director

            Olathe, Kan. – Coming off a thrilling double overtime win last night over the #3 seed MidAmerica Nazarene in the Cramer Quadrant, #14 seed Central Baptist College men's basketball took on the #11 seeded Pilots of Bethel University in the second round of the NAIA Men's Basketball Championship Presented by Ballogy. CBC (27-6) led for 37:45 and fought off a late charge from BU (20-10) to win 79-76 and advance to the round of 16 next week at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.

            Deshawn Corprew led five Mustangs in double figures scoring with 18 points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds. Sage Borbon also had double figures with 17, Jonas Carlisle added 15, and Devin Foster and Wade Williams both chipped in with 10 apiece. CBC shot 43.5 percent from the field, 40 percent from three and went 13-17 at the stripe, while the Mustangs held Bethel to just 2-17 from three in a clean game that saw a combined 11 turnovers.

GAME FLOW

            Bethel scored the first points of the game at the free throw line 1:04 into the contest, but Borbon made the first basket of the game to tie the score at two with 18:29 to play in the first half. 14 seconds later, a field goal by Carlisle made it 4-2 Mustangs and CBC would not trail the rest of the half, taking a 48-39 lead into the halftime break.

            The Mustangs stretched the lead to 11 early in the second half and it looked like they would run away with it, but the Pilots just would not go away, trimming the lead to three (56-53) with 13:45 left. CBC remained calm, keeping the Pilots at arm's length until the 56 second mark, when Bethel cut the lead to one at 75-74. A jumper from Corprew made it 77-74 with 26 seconds left, but a foul put Bethel at the line, where they canned a pair to make it 77-76. Borbon came up clutch at the line again, making two more free throws to make it 79-76 and set up drama at the end. Bethel got two contested looks from three to try and tie the game, but the attempts went begging and the Mustangs survived and advanced to Kansas City for the first time since 2019.

UP NEXT

           The Mustangs have advanced to the round of 16 at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo. CBC will take on the #2 seed in the Cramer Quadrant, the Eagles of Oklahoma Wesleyan, on Thursday, March 21, at 3 p.m. Links to coverage will be available online.