Eagles drop NCCAA opener to Dallas Baptist, 86-70
Oakland City, IN - Derek Bland came out of the gate hitting four-of-six three-point attempts helping Asbury answer each challenge from Dallas Baptist University, but ultimately a 22-7 run midway through the first half put the Eagles in a hole that was too deep in an 86-70 loss to the Patriots.
Bland ended up leading all scorers with 21 points but Dallas Baptist would make him their focus as he only managed five points after halftime. Brett Johnson ended up with 15 points, making him the third Eagle this season to eclipse 1,000 points for his career with 1,001.
Asbury would try to make a comeback from a 46-34 halftime deficit but the Eagles only drew as close as seven points at 68-61 before free throw misses and baskets by Dallas Baptist put the game out of reach.
The loss moves the Eagles to the consolation bracket of the 2008 NCCAA Men's Championships, where they will next face Geneva College (Pa.) at 1:00 p.m. central, 2:00 p.m. eastern time. Should the Eagles win they would play in the fifth-place game at 4:00 central, but would play at 2:00 central in the seventh-place game with a loss.
Game results for all first-round games can be found at the Oakland City tournament page.
