Ravens fall to Midland, Texas; play Saturday for third place

The Red Ravens march toward the national championship ended on Friday night in a 57-34 loss to Midland, Texas at the NJCAA National Men's Basketball Tournament in Hutchinson.

The Red Ravens will play the College of Southern Idaho at 6 p.m. on Saturday night for third place at the national tournament.

Coffeyville actually got off to a good start against the Chaps.  Coffeyville led 18-9 with 9:25 remaining in the first half, sparked by seven points from sophomore Barry Eberhardt.  The Chaps, though, went on a 21-1 run the rest of the half en route to a 30-19 halftime lead. 

The Ravens got back into the game with a 12-5 run to start the second half, cutting the Chaps' lead to 35-31 on a Tarod Sanders field goal with 11:24 remaining in the game.  Midland extended the lead to 37-31 before Papa Oppong answered with a basket at the 10:50 mark, cutting the deficit back to four at 37-33.  The Ravens, though, would go scoreless for the next eight minutes until Sanders hit a free throw at the 2:48 mark in the second half.

Midland outscored the Ravens 20-1 the final 10:50 of the game, sealing the Ravens fate.

The Ravens, 32-5 overall on the season, got 11 points from Eberhardt.  Sanders added seven points and seven rebounds.  Daniel Payne had a team high nine rebounds.

The Ravens shot 24% from the field, 15-of-62, and made just 2-of-31 three-point attempts.  The Ravens misfired on their last 27 three-points attempts on the game.  The Ravens also struggled from the free throw line, hitting just 2-of-13 attempts.

Midland made 22-of-53 field goal attempts, but just 1-of-13 from beyond the three-point arc.  Midland out-rebounded the Ravens by a 56 to 40 margin, including a game-high 16 boards by Jordan Brooks.  Nemanja Calasan scored 13 points to pace the Chaps' offense.

Midland will play Chipola, Florida for the national championship on Saturday following the Ravens and College of Southern Idaho's third place game.  Regardless of Saturday's outcome, 2007 will mark the fifth time in six years that Coffeyville has placed in the top eight at the national tournament.

Coffeyville-Midland, Texas Boxscore

Hutchinson News Tournament Site

National Tournament Web Casting Site (Check for the web casting link prior to tip off for Coffeyville's game at nationals)

NJCAA Men's Basketball National Tournament Web Site

National Tournament Fan Bus Information

Barry Eberhardt scores two of his team-high 11 points against Midland.

The basket was unkind to the Ravens Friday night.  The picture above was one of the few times the lid was removed.