Magical Season Ends With 3rd Place Finish at NCCAA Tournament

SPRINGFIELD, MO - The OCU men's basketball team wrapped up a historic season with a 79-65 win over Central Bible College on Saturday afternoon to claim 3rd place in the nation.  Ohio Christian (27-10, 12-0) defeated the host school from Springfield, Missouri after Central had taken down Kuyper College and Florida Christian in stunning fashion to reach the Final Four round.  OCU had advanced to the Final Four round after defeating North Central Region Champion, Trinity from North Dakota.

OCU started the game with a quick 5-0 lead.  Central would battle back to within one with the score 12-11 in favor of OCU.  James Neslon would then go 4 of 5 from the field to close out the first half, scoring 9 points to lead the OCU effort in the first half.  Anthony McDaniel assisted Nelson on an off the backboard dunk that Nelson threw down to give OCU a momentum boost in the first half.  The Blazers headed into the intermission with a 45-38 lead.

The Blazers held a double digit lead for most of the second half, with Central getting to within 8 points on a few occassions.  Delorean Glanton heated up in the second half, tossing in 14 points as he went on to score a game high 21 points.  His last basket, coming with only 38 seconds in the game, made him the newest member of the OCU 1,000 point club.  That basket pushed the OCU lead to 14 points as the Blazers went on to win 79-65.

Delorean Glanton had 21 points to finish with exactly 1,000 total points for his career.  Tirrell Cumberland added 14 points on 5 of 9 shooting.  Mohamed Fall tossed in 12 points and grabbed 6 boards.  James Nelson had 9 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocks.  Mike Farrell and Wesley Russell added 6 points each.

OCU ends the season with several milestones including....

27-10 record

2012 OCAC Tournament Championship*

Undefeated in Mid-East Region Play at 12-0*

2012 Mid-East Region Championship

2012 NCCAA Final Four Appearance*

3rd Place Finish at 2012 NCCAA National Tournament*

* First time in program history

OCAC All-Conference Awards

Player of the Year - Mohamed Fall

Freshman of the Year - Wesley Russell

1st Team - Mohamed Fall, Tirrell Cumberland

2nd Team - Wesley Russell

NCCAA Mid-East Region Awards

1st Team - Tirrell Cumberland, Mohamed Fall

2nd Team - Wesley Russell

Honorable Mention - Kenny Cooper, Delorean Glanton

NCCAA All-American Awards

1st Team - Tirrell Cumberland

2nd Team - Mohamed Fall

NCCAA National Tournament Awards

All-Tournament Team - Mohamed Fall

NCCAA Scholar Athletes

Mike Farrell

Jon Baker