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KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Oklahoma City University made its third NAIA Division I men’s basketball national championship game in a row with a 78-64 semifinals triumph over Campbellsville (Ky.) on Monday at Municipal Auditorium.
The Stars (30-7) will attempt to win the NAIA championship for the second year in a row against Mountain State (W.Va.) at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday at Municipal Auditorium. OCU won for the 14th consecutive game.
Ollie Bailey and Kameron Gray led OCU with 17 points each. Bailey, a senior from Chicago, grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds for his 12th double-double this season.
Ronald Taylor added 16 points and nine rebounds, while Willie Irick had 14 points for OCU. Bubba Long led Campbellsville with 21 points, while Campbellsville star Nestor Colmenares had 13 points.
Last season, the Stars beat Concordia (Calif.) 79-71 to become national champs. OCU became the first program to advance to three consecutive NAIA title games since Kentucky State in 1970-72.
OCU coach Ray Harper has directed his teams to nine national championship games in his 12 seasons as a head coach.
“My main thing is to give these kids at Oklahoma City University a great experience on the floor and off the floor,” Harper said. “When they leave, then they can go on in life and take the things they’ve learned at Oklahoma City University and this basketball program and be successful. By that I mean the discipline and the hard work, and I think that’s why we’re playing tomorrow night.”
OCU held Campbellsville to 37.5 percent shooting while sinking 54 percent of its own shots from the floor. Campbellsville hit only 2 of its first 10 3-point attempts.
“The last couple of nights we’ve been really, really good on the defensive end,” Harper said. “That was a team that had beaten us by 19 earlier in the year. We didn’t have someone playing with us back then, someone who could make a difference.”
“We’re playing a lot better because we have our leader back, Kameron,” Irick said. “It was a big difference when Kameron wasn’t playing, not to take anything away from the other guys on our team. Kameron commands a lot on the court.
“We came with the understanding that if we work hard, listen to what Coach Harper says, execute, rebound and play good defense, we would be in the national championship game like we are now.”
The Stars put together a 16-point margin in the second half. Jason Arbet put OCU up 50-34 on a bucket with 11:16 on the clock.
Campbellsville drew to within 10 points on multiple occasions in the second, but OCU answered each time. Deveon Jenkins cut OCU’s advantage to 73-64 with 1:14 showing, but Gray responded with a pair of made free throws.
OCU will seek to become the first repeat NAIA champion since Life (Ga.) in 1999 and 2000.
“It means a lot for our school, our families, Coach’s family and everybody involved with Oklahoma City University,” Gray said. “When I was recruited, they said that I would have an opportunity to win two national championships because I had two years left. I feel blessed and thankful that I would have that opportunity to play for another national championship.”