SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -  In another meeting between Saint Francis (Ind.) and Cornerstone in the NAIA DII National Tournament, it was a 52-28 edge in the opening half by the Cougars which sent Cornerstone to a 90-79 defeat. USF connected on 73.1 of their shots in the opening twenty minutes to end the Golden Eagles' season at 30-5 overall.

Game Flow
In their third meeting in the last four seasons at the National Tournament, it was a 52-point first half outburst by the No. 7 ranked Cougars that led them to a 24-point halftime lead. CU held a slim 3-2 lead after a Riley Costen 3-point play but USF scored on the next possession and only three other ties at 7-7, 9-9 and 11-11 kept them from leading throughout the entire game. Trailing 22-17 after a triple from Kyle Steigenga which put him over 3,000 career points, CU scored only seven points over the next six minutes while seeing the Cougars build a 43-24 lead. USF then scored nine of the next 13 points to go into the locker room leading 52-28.

Knowing they needed to play a flawless second half, CU slowly started to chip away at the lead but Saint Francis just could not miss from the field and they increased the margin to as many as 27 with 16:57 on the clock. The long-distance shots then started to fall for CU and thanks to a 35-16 run over a 7:01 time frame, the Golden Eagles had cut the margin to just eight with just over two minutes to play. The next possession saw a fade away 30 footer as the shot clock expired which took the winds out of the Golden Eagles sails and CU would eventually fall 90-79.
 
Say What?
"So proud of these seniors. They never gave up tonight and led us back in the second half. Its never fun to end your season this way but also give credit to St. Francis…they played about as well as you can and we just dug too deep of a hole." Head coach Kim Elders
 
By the Numbers
27/8 – Kyle Steigenga led CU with 27 points while pulling down 8 rebounds
328 and 135 – Steigenga is now the NAIA DII Tourney record holder for points and rebounds in a career
3,000 – Early in the second half, a 3-pointer put Steigenga over 3,000 career points
15/11 – Sam Vander Sluis finishes his junior season with another double-double
.731 – USF was 19/26 from the field in the first half and finished shooting .596 (28/47) including .800 from 3 (8/10)
87 – CU allowed 87 or more points in three of their four losses this season
12-3 – The CU seniors – Kyle Steigenga, Lance Martin and Michael Bradshaw finished their career 12-3 at nationals
 
Up Next
Cornerstone concludes its season 30-5 overall as it marks the ninth time Coach Kim Elders has led the Golden Eagles to a 30-win season including five of the last six.
 
Men's Basketball Contact: Aaron Sagraves
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