Oklahoma Wesleyan Wins Championship

Top-seeded Oklahoma Wesleyan defeated College of the Ozarks 60-53 to win its first NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Championship.

Wednesday, March 18th 2009, 12:23 pm

By: News On 6

NewsOn6.com

POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. -- Top-seeded Oklahoma Wesleyan defeated College of the Ozarks 60-53 to win its first NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Championship. They are the first top seed to win the title since Northwestern (Iowa) in 2003.

The 18th annual event was held at the Keeter Gymnasium on the campus of the College of the Ozarks.

In front of thousands of roaring fans and a capacity crowd at the gymnasium, the two Midland Collegiate Conference rivals were meeting for the fourth time this season.

Oklahoma Wesleyan was led in scoring by tournament most-valuable-player Steve Briggs, who scored 27 points. The junior guard totaled 147 points, 10 points shy of the tournament record.

Briggs finished the championship with a tournament-record 26 three-pointers. Sadiel Rojas recorded his second double-double of the tournament with 18 points and 17 rebounds.

Oklahoma Wesleyan (35-2) ends the season with a school record 35 wins and closed the season with 18 straight victories.

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletes contributed to this report.