Jackson Discovers His Outside Touch at the Right Time
One ill-advised shot was all it took for Kenny Jackson to overcome a poor performance Tuesday.
Jackson, who had missed all eight of his field-goal attempts to that point, made a three-point basket with 26 seconds remaining to lift The Master’s College over Campbellsville (Ky.), 78-76, in the first round of the NAIA men’s basketball tournament at the Tulsa Convention Center.
“It wasn’t the play we set up, but we couldn’t penetrate and I decided to shoot it regardless,” Jackson said. “[The coaches] were upset with me for the previous three-point shot.”
Jackson, a 5-foot-8 junior, had missed three three-point shots before hitting the game-winner.
“I really thought it was short,” Master’s Coach Bill Oates said of the winning basket. “He had missed all the other ones, but he hit that one.”
Campbellsville’s Marcio Kardosh missed a three-point try with 12 seconds left and missed another at the buzzer, after Joey Penberthy of Master’s missed a one-and-one free throw with six seconds to play.
Master’s (27-5) will play Houston Baptist, a 68-50 winner over Barber-Scotia (N.C.), in a second-round game at 10:30 a.m. (PST) Thursday.
The No. 8-seeded Mustangs appeared headed for a blowout Tuesday after building a 20-point lead in the first half, but they were forced to overcome a six-point deficit in the last five minutes against unseeded Campbellsville (23-11), which was ranked No. 25 in the final NAIA poll.
Kardosh helped rally the Tigers from a 44-27 halftime deficit, scoring 16 points in eight minutes of the second half. His three-pointer tied the score, 60-60, with 8:50 to play.
“He really did a good job of bringing them back,” said Oates, who called two timeouts during the Tigers’ run in an effort to cool off Kardosh.
“I told our kids to be patient. We were totally cold in the second half. We weren’t getting a lot of second efforts.”
Master’s made 14 of 37 shots (37.8%) in the second half and finished 30 of 76 (39.5%).
Penberthy led the Mustangs with 22 points, Reggie McFerren scored 20 and Joclin Julmist had a game-high 14 rebounds. Jacy Armbruster contributed 14 points and five assists to the victory.
Campbellsville took a 64-60 lead with 7:24 left on a basket by Josh McKenzie, setting the stage for Master’s comeback.
The teams traded baskets for the next few minutes, before McFerren’s layup on a backdoor play pulled the Mustangs within 68-67 with 4:31 to play. But McKenzie answered with a basket for Campbellsville and a 69-68 lead.
Penberthy made a three-pointer from the corner and added a 15-foot jump shot to give Master’s a 73-72 advantage.
McKenzie answered again, but the Mustangs countered with a McFerren basket for a 75-74 lead with 2:12 left.
Campbellsville took its final lead, 76-75, on McKenzie’s jumper with 51 seconds left.
Kardosh and McKenzie each scored 18 points for the Tigers.
* Tuesday’s NAIA results, today’s schedule, Page 10
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)
NAIA MEN’S TOURNAMENT GLANCE
Tuesday’s Results
First Round
The Master’s 78
Campbellsville (Ky.) 76
Houston Baptist 68
Barber-Scotia (N.C.) 50
Union (Tenn.) 73
College of West Virginia 67
Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 62
Columbia (Mo.) 59
Southern Tech (Ga.) 71
Point Loma Nazarene, 65
Lipscomb (Tenn.) 77
St. Gregory’s, (Okla.) 66
Georgetown (Ky.) 89
Northwestern Oklahoma 63
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 79
Birmingham-Southern (Ala) 61
*
Today’s Games
First Round (Times PST)
McKendree (Ill.) vs.
Central State (Ohio), 7 a.m.
Lambuth (Tenn) vs.
Brewton-Parker (Ga.), 8:45 a.m.
St. Vincent, Pa. vs.
Spring Hill (Ala.), 10:30 a.m.
Faulkner (Ala.) vs.
Azusa Pacific, 12:15 p.m.
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.), vs.
Mobile (Ala.), 2:30 p.m.
Life (Ga.) vs.
Southern-New Orleans, 4:15 p.m.
Oklahoma City vs.
Westmont, 6 p.m.
St. Xavier (Ill.) vs.
Biola, 7:45 p.m.