29^th Annual NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship
Score: Keiser 60, No. 6 Marian 71
Records: Keiser (22-8), No. 6 Marian (25-7)
Location: Sanford Pentagon, Sioux Falls, S.D.

Keiser men's basketball's 2019-2020 campaign concluded with a loss at the hands of No. 6 Marian, as the Knights were able to hold the Seahawks to a season-low 60 points to survive and advance.



Keiser 25, No. 6 Marian 37

• The Knights won the opening tip and produced a bucket on their first possession, but the Seahawks countered with a Gavin Antoine half-hook inside the paint for Keiser's first two points in the NAIA National Tournament.
• After Marian went ahead 6-2, Keiser knotted it up at 6-6 on a Mabry basket and two Gordon free-throws with 16:02 remaining.
• The Knights then began a 8-0 run to lead 14-6 with 14:19 showing on the scoreboard.
• Marian's advantage grew to double-digits, 22-11, on the strength of an 8-2 run at the midway point of the half.
• The Knights lead remained in double-digits, and reached as large as 16 points, 37-21, after the Knights sank their fifth three-pointer of the half with just 50 seconds remaining.
• Gordon accounted for the final four points of the half as the Seahawks trailed 37-25. 
• The final basket was a dunk in transition that just beat the buzzer, as the Seahawks earned a defensive stop and pushed the ball up the floor before Collin Hyssong found Gordon with a bounce pass for the slam

Keiser 60, No. 6 Marian 71

• Keiser started the second half with a 6-2 spurt, beginning and ending with baskets from Malcolm Mabry. The forward's pull-up jumper at the 17:53 mark brought KU to within 39-31.
• A three-pointer from Marian slowed the Seahawks' momentum, and the two sides proceeded to go scoreless for a stretch of 2:36.
• Gordon then started a 6-2 run, as the Seahawks cut their deficit to just seven points, 44-37, with 13:02 remaining.
• The Knights responded with six unanswered points as their advantage grew to 50-37 nearing the midway point of the second frame.
• Gordon netted KU's next five points, but Marian continued to keep the Seahawks' attempts for a late surge at bay.
• Leading 57-46, the Knights matched their largest lead of the game with a 5-0 run, going in front 62-46 with 6:04 on the clock.
• With Marian in firm control, the Knights took significant time off the clock each possession to stave off any hopes for a Keiser comeback.
• Gordon had the Seahawks' first three-pointer of the game go through with 1:37 to play, and just as in the first half, he had a transition dunk right before the buzzer sounded. It was too little, too late, however, as Marian took the wire-to-wire, 71-60 victory.

• 6-3: Jimmy Sylvain led the KU bench with six points and added a game-high three steals.
• 11: Today's game marked Keiser's 11th appearance at the NAIA National Championship in the program's 14 seasons.
• 14: Mabry joined Gordon in double-figure scoring, finishing with 14 points.
• 24-13-2: Gordon finished with game-highs in points (24), rebounds (13), and blocks (2). His 13 rebounds marked a season-high as well.
• 27: Gordon was able to produce over 20 points in all 27 games in which he appeared in this season.
• 40-26: Keiser held the edge in points in the paint by a 40-26 margin.
• 1000: With his late three-pointer, Gordon reached 1,000 points for his collegiate career with seasons at Bethune-Cookman and Keiser.

Keiser

• PTS: Gordon (24)
• REB: Gordon (13)
• A: Six with 1…
• STL: Sylvain (3)
• BLK: Gordon (2)

No. 6 Marian

• PTS: Wolter (21)
• REB: Gohmann (9)
• A: Stewart (5)
• STL: Harvey (3)
• BLK: Gohmann (1)

Under the direction of first-year Head Coach Tae Norwood, Keiser concludes its season with a record of 22-8. The 2019-2020 Seahawks reached as high as No. 6 in the rankings, set a program records for blocks in a season (173), and were led by a program-record scoring average of 27.4 points per game from Gordon.