KANSAS CITY, Mo. — From blowouts to buzzer-beaters, Rocky Mountain College couldn't be beat for a full three months.
But the magic ran out Saturday as the Battlin' Bears were knocked from the NAIA men's basketball tournament one win shy of the program's first appearance in the Fab Four since its national-championship season of 2009.
Rocky, the No. 2 seed in the Liston Quadrant, fell 60-55 to No. 4 Langston (Okla.) in their Round of 8 matchup at historic Municipal Auditorium. Led by an aggressive half-court defense, Langston kept the Bears out of sync to snap their school-record 21-game winning streak.
But Rocky didn't go quietly.
After trailing by 10 with 2:13 left, Omari Nesbit hit three consecutive 3s to pull the Bears within 55-53 with 27 seconds on the clock. After Langston's Jaden Williams made two free throws, Nesbit was fouled while hoisting a wild 3-point attempt with 12 seconds left. He made 2 of 3 from the stripe.
Rocky had one last chance to tie it, but Drew Bowman's 3-pointer from the left wing was short and Langston was able to ice the game.
Suffering their first loss since Dec. 20, the Battlin' Bears ended the season with a 31-4 record under first-year coach Danny Neville. Langston, which knocked off top-seeded Oklahoma Wesleyan on Friday, is now 28-7 and will play in the Fab Four for the first time in program history.
A Trey Clarke layup gave Langston a 33-22 lead with 16:38 left, but the Bears eventually found some second-half life. A tough turnaround jumper from the baseline fell for Rocky's Nesbit to cut the Lions' lead to 37-32. A blocked shot on the defensive end by Mekhi Jourdan began that sequence.
Royce Robinson then hit two free throws to pull Rocky within four with 11:39 left. Later in the second half, right after Robinson converted through a double team down low to make it a seven-point game, Neville (an associate head coach last year at Langston) was issued a technical foul. Orlando Thomas made the two foul shots to give the Lions a 48-39 lead with 4:48 to go.
But Thomas made an even bigger shot with 2:13 left when his long straightaway 3 beat the shot clock and hit nothing but twine to put the Lions ahead 54-44.
Both teams struggled in the first half. The game remained tied 4-4 until Rocky's Carter McCoy made a shot with less than 11 minutes left before intermission.
The Battlin' Bears led 19-15 when Sherman Royal III made a bucket with 3:38 on the clock in the first half, but Langston reeled off 10 points in the final 2:40 to take a 25-22 advantage into the break.
Nesbit — the hero of the Bears' run to the Frontier Conference tournament title with his 60-foot miracle shot to beat Montana Tech on March 1 — finished with 21 points. Robinson, formerly a standout at Lewistown, added 16 for Rocky before fouling out. Carter McCoy added 10 points and seven rebounds. The Bears shot just 38% from the floor and hit 5 of 23 3-point attempts.
Thomas led Langston with 14 points and Jay Wilson contributed 12. The Lions didn't fare better with their shooting (30.8%) but had nine players reach the scoring column and received 20 bench points. Clarke had a team-high 12 rebounds.
