Christian Heritage Rallies to Win Title

With Christian Heritage trailing by two points with less than two minutes remaining, senior guard Mark Kraatz took charge and helped rally the Hawks to a 106-97 victory over Cedarville (Ohio) and the National Christian College Athletic Assn. national championship.

Christian Heritage (33-6) trailed, 97-95, before Kraatz sparked an 11-0 run that gave the El Cajon school a national title in just its fourth year of competition.

Cedarville controlled the game until midway through the second half. At that point, Christian Heritage trailed by 10, but Will Cunningham (15 points), Rundy Foster (27) and Brad Soucie (24) made consecutive three-pointers to pull the Hawks to within 81-80.

Christian Heritage was not able to take the lead until 2:22 remained, when Kraatz (21 points) passed to Foster, who connected on a three-point shot to make it 95-94.

Cedarville’s Ken Rucker, who scored 26 points, answered with a three-pointer of his own to make it 97-95, with 2:02 remaining. But Cedarville would not score again.

Kraatz, who made the all-tournament team with MVP Soucie, had two assists, two layups and a steal as the Hawks put the game away.

“It was a great defensive effort,” Christian Heritage Coach Swen Nater said. “The team shut down Cedarville’s offensive rebounding, and that allowed our offense to get going.”