POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. – Leading by just one with 3:47 to play, No. 2 Cornerstone held No. 15 St. Francis without a point for over three minutes as they pulled away for a 66-58 win. The victory lifts the Golden Eagles to 32-3 on the year and into the program's tenth ever quarterfinals. CU will face Indiana University – East at 2 p.m. EST on Saturday, March 11 in the NAIA Quarterfinals.
 
Game Flow
In a battle of two of the most successful programs in the NAIA, Cornerstone jumped out to quick 3-0 lead on one of three Kyle Steigenga three-pointers. That lead continued to grow as CU used a 9-0 spurt to build a 23-8 lead after back to back buckets from Steigenga and Sam Vander Sluis. The margin grew to as many as 16 in the opening half but Saint Francis closed it on a 15-5 run to get within 35-29 at the break.

The Cougars, which were ranked No. 1 for one-third of the season, continued their hot play into the second half as they opened the closing 20 minutes on a 10-0 run to take a 39-35 lead. The next 16:22 featured a see-saw affair between two of the NAIA's best teams. After USF took a 53-52 lead with 6:33 to play, Cornerstone got four straight free-throws from Sluis and Jake Brubaker and they would never relinquish the lead. Up 57-56 with 3:47 on the clock, CU called a timeout and Cory Cox hit a big triple from the corner and then after a stop on defense, Kyle Steigenga put the Golden Eagles up by six on an acrobatic layup with 39 seconds to play. Free-throws down the stretch iced the program's tenth ever trip to the quarterfinal round.
 
Say What?
"We knew that defense was going to win this game…the last four minutes we knew we needed to get stops and we did and our guys showed a lot of heart." – Sophomore Sam Vander Sluis

"We knew that this game was not going to be easy and when they came back on us, we just tried to stay calm and get good shots and get stops on defense." – Junior Kyle Steigenga

"It was a battle…All their points were in the paint in the first half and we talked about that at halftime and made some adjustments and really took care of the rebounding as well" – Head coach Kim Elders
 
By the Numbers
17 – Sam Vander Sluis tied the mark for the second-most rebounds in a game at the NAIA DII Tournament
12/17/5 – Vander Sluis finished with his 16^th double-double of the season and added five blocks
22 – Kyle Steigenga led CU with 22 points as the junior knocked down three 3-pointers
35-38 – CU was out-rebounded for just the third time this season – now 2-1 in such games
16/18 – After going 27/43 from the FT line in the opener, CU was 16/18 from the charity stripe today
6 – CU held the Cougars to just six points in the final 6:33 of the game
 
Up Next
Cornerstone advances to the quarterfinal round where they will face IU-East, a 73-68 winner over Northwest Christian (Ore.) on Saturday, March 11 at 2 p.m. EST
 
Men's Basketball Contact: Aaron Sagraves
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