Uniontown, PA- After winning their opening round matchup of the 2017 USCAA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship Tournament, third seed Berea needed just one more win to advance to the championship game. The game against the second seed Concordia College Alabama Hornets was scheduled for a late start of 10:00 PM but started even later than the planned time because of double overtime in the game preceding them.
Once the game started though, the Mountaineers raced off to a 7-2 lead via a Corey Wise jump shot followed by a layup and three-pointer from Richard Parker. The lead changed at the 12:17 mark after a 14-4 run by the Hornets made the score 16-11 in their favor. A second Parker three-point basket brought Berea back to within two points of the lead before seven straight points from Concordia as part of a 9-1 scoring run gave them a double-digit advantage, 25-15. As the Mountaineers trailed 27-17, Parker outscored the Hornets 8-3 over the next minute to pull Berea back within five points of the lead, making the score 30-25. Five straight points from Concordia pushed the deficit back out to double-figures before an Anthony Myrks-Brewer layup assured the Mountaineers went into halftime only trailing by nine, 36-27.
Wise and Parker came out of the intermission to score the first two baskets of the second half to bring Berea back within five points of the lead, 36-31, as 18:07 ticked on the clock. Over the next seven minutes though, the Mountaineers offense went cold as the Hornets blew the game open with a 18-3 run, moving the score to 54-34. A Stephen Butts three-point jump shot brought Berea to within 15 points of the lead, but the ball would not continue to go into the hoop for the Mountaineers, going on to fall by a score of 83-54. Berea ends the season with a 17-10 record.
Parker finished as the team leader in points with 20 while Wise finished with 15 points. Myrks-Brewer, Bizzle-Brown and Wise finished tied as the rebound leaders with seven each. The lost ends the sensational careers of seniors Parker and Myrks-Brewer. Parker finished his prolific career scoring 1,915 points, finishing as one of the top scorers in the history of the men's basketball program, while Myrks-Brewer finishes his career with over 1,052 career points and 360 career assists