Winona Lake, Ind.-For the first time in Sterling history, a team has represented the College in the NCCAA National Championship Tournament. Since Sterling joined the NCCAA as a dual member with the NAIA membership just a few years ago, Sterling has played in the NCCAA Victory Bowl, volleyball regional tournaments, and now the National Basketball Tournament. This is a great stepping stone for many more years to come as the men's basketball team completed its finest season in nearly a decade.
The NCCAA tournament guarantees each team three games and will have places from first to eighth. In the opening round of the tournament, the fifth-seeded Warriors took on fourth-seeded Geneva College from Pennsylvania. Geneva took a lead early, but Sterling was able to fight back into the game. Sterling took a 17-16 lead with 6:24 left in the first half, but it was all Geneva for the next 8 minutes. The Golden Tornados, with a 17-9 regular season record, scored 20 straight points.
Their lead early in the second half was 19 points at 36-17. Sterling fought back numerous times, but every time they started to get close to single digits, Geneva went on a bit of a run and opened the game back up. Geneva won the opening-round game over the Warriors 75-63. Kavonte Kinney, Derrian Reed, and Taron Batie were the only players to score in double figures, even though 11 different Warriors scored. The loss meant the best that Sterling could place in the tournament would be fifth place.
The next game was nearly a must-win for Sterling as they faced Ecclesia College, a team they had beaten in Sterling in early November, 89-79. Sterling needed to get one win in the tournament to guarantee a .500 season, their first since the 2014-15 season. Sterling led from tip to buzzer against the Royals holding a double-digit lead most of the first half before pushing to 21 just before the half. The Warrior's largest lead was 24 in the half.
Sterling maintained their twenty point lead for most of the second half as they cruised to an 86-66 victory over the Royals. The win earned them a spot in the 5th place game against Asbury University out of Kentucky. In this game, four Warriors scored in double figures. Kinney, Reed, Elias Ngoga, and Lucas Briar led the way in scoring for Sterling. Kinney also led the Warriors in rebounds. Briar scored 12 points, making his career total 1,003 points in his four years as a varsity player for the Sterling College program, making him the newest member of the 1,000-point club.
In the final game of the tournament for the Warriors, Sterling met a hot shooting Eagles team. Sterling remained within arm's reach for much of the first half. They found themselves chasing a ten point deficit when the first twenty minutes concluded. Sterling was tied with under 3 minutes to play in the first half, but Asbury took advantage of some unfortunate events for the Warriors to make their lead double digits at the break.
Sterling was not able to get things going in the second half. Every time the Warriors cut into the lead, Nick Fort seemed to be the answer for Asbury. Fort ended the game with 31 points for the Eagles. With under ten minutes to play in regulation, Sterling was within 8 points but it was Asbury once again who met Sterling's push with a run of their own. As time wound down, the Eagles pushed their lead to 23 and that is where it stayed until time expired. Kinney, Briar, Cedric Rollerson, and Reed led Sterling in scoring once again.
Sterling finished the tournament with a sixth place finish. The team record this season was 17-17, much improved from the 2-29 season they had last season. As we move forward to next season, we will see what Coach Randy Stange and his staff have for us next season. With the anticipation of several players coming back next season, things are still looking up for the Warriors as this program is in the early stages of rebuilding.
Be sure to check for news and updates on Sterling Warrior Athletics on Facebook (/SCWarriors), Twitter (@SterlingCSports), and Instagram (sterlingcsports), as well as the hashtag #SwordsUp. Watch all of the Warriors' live home events on the Sterling College Sports Network.
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