KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Oklahoma City University made its coach Ray Harper's prediction come true Tuesday night.
The Stars captured the NAIA Division I men's basketball national title with a 79-71 victory over Concordia (Calif.) at Municipal Auditorium.
Harper, coaching in his eighth career national-title game, said at the beginning of the season this team would win OCU's fifth men's basketball title and the school's 29th overall.
Second-ranked OCU finished tied for the second most wins in the program's history with a 35-2 record. The 2006-07 squad matched OCU's 35-3 effort in 1990-91.
“We played hard,” OCU forward Willie Irick said. “Coach kept saying we would win. We believed him. We followed where he would go. There was never any doubt. Coach said the first day of practice we would win the championship.”
After last year's 67-65 loss to Texas Wesleyan in the title game, the Stars gathered motivation from talking to the players on that team.
“This is for us and for the team last year,” Irick said.
Irick, a 6-foot-6 junior from Teaneck, N.J., scored 17 points to lead OCU. Irick hit 7 of 10 shots from the floor. He averaged 17 points a game in the tournament and made all-tournament.
OCU's Kameron Gray, a 6-1 junior from Oakland, Calif., earned the Chuck Taylor most valuable player award. Gray recorded 14 points and eight assists against Concordia.
“He made all the plays,” Irick said of Gray. “He's a great player. I'm glad to be on the team with him.”
Harper said of Gray's award, “It's well deserved. You must have good guards to win a title. We have good guards. They play so hard on the defensive end.”
Gray said he watched last year's championship game knowing he would play for OCU. Gray spent last season coaching basketball at Oakland Skyline High School (Calif.).
“I just wanted to help the team any way,” Gray said. “We wanted to go inside and stop the 3s. We knew they would battle us no matter what. We made a concerted effort.”
The Stars tied the game 32-32 on a pair of Gray free throws. Armand Massogo keyed OCU's defensive pressure, capitalizing on a Gray steal with a lay-in that gave the Stars a 34-32 advantage with 6:32 left in the first half.
Concordia nailed six of its first seven 3-point attempts, but ended up 6 of 25 from beyond the arc. Levi Luster led Concordia with 23 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots.
“This team was well balanced,” Harper said. “Duane was good last night. Armand was key tonight. We would not have won the national championship without Armand Massogo. Coaching is not rocket science. It's about getting the kids to execute. Our execution was good late. Our press was effective in the first half.”
B.J. Walker provided the inside presence with 11 points and three blocks for OCU. Walker stuffed Concordia's Josh Kramer, then on the offensive end, scored cutting to the basket to give the Stars a 43-40 lead with 43 seconds remaining in the first period.
Nick Covington buried a 3-pointer from the wing to forge a 41-40 edge with 1:05 left in the first half. OCU built its lead to 69-59 on Covington's two free throws.
Harper and his staff crafted this team together using 11 new players and redshirting John Roby, the only returning player from last year.
Harper won his third career national title after guiding Kentucky Wesleyan to two NCAA Division II crowns.
“The one thing I ask is bring a good work ethic and practice, and things will take care of themselves,” Harper said. “For those who watched us this year, it was a struggle early on. There were suspensions, and it was all about attitude.”
Duane John added 12 points and seven rebounds for OCU. As he exited the game late, he bear-hugged Harper.
John has said he came to OCU to win a national title “by any means necessary.”
“This is the greatest feeling,” John said. “Nothing can describe this feeling. We've been to hell and back. The two games we lost, we beat ourselves.”
John sat out last season after being the leading scorer for New Mexico State in 2004-05.
“I was in Toronto doing nothing with my life,” John said. “Then Coach called me. Coach said we'd win a title, and the things he said came true.”