Bucs Hold On For First GSC Championship, 93-89 :: Kohs named Most Outstanding Player, Weybright All-Tournament

March 9, 2008

SOUTHAVEN, Miss.--Junior center Nick Kohs (Cincinnati, Ohio/Lakota East HS) had 28 points and 16 rebounds as he carried the Christian Brothers University Bucs to a 93-89 win over Harding, giving the Bucs their first-ever Gulf South Conference championship.

Kohs was named the Most Outstanding Player as he averaged 22.7 points, 14.7 rebounds, and five assists a game, posting three straight double-doubles to lift the Bucs (22-9) to their first GSC basketball championship since joining the league in 1996-97.

As they did all tournament long, the Bucs went on a 19-6 run to stretch out a double-digit lead in the first half, and they built the lead steadily to as much as 23 points at 54-31 with 16:28 to play.

From there, the Bisons (18-12) began to chip away at the lead, cutting it to nine points with 2:37 left on a Chris Dixon three-pointer. The Bucs pulled back ahead by 13 at 91-78 on two Reggie Peyton (Memphis, Tenn./St. Benedict HS) free throws with just 1:03 remaining. From there, however, Harding made a furious comeback to come as close as three points at 92-89 on a Calvin Rayford free throw with two seconds left. The Bucs' Justin Ray (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills HS) iced it with a free throw with 0.8 seconds left, giving the Bucs the championship.

Senior forward Kevin Weybright (Cincinnati, Ohio/Wyoming HS) became CBU's all-time leading scorer late in the first half when he made a free throw at the 4:20 mark. Weybright finished with 23 points before fouling out with 4:02 remaining. He now has 1,972 points in his career, passing Bill Lowry (1956-60), who had 1,958. Weybright was named to the All-GSC Tournament Team as he averaged 23 points per game for the tournament.

Peyton finished with 17 points, four steals, and four assists, while Ray scored 16.

Kevin Brown led Harding with 33 points. Matt Hall scored 17, joining Brown and Weybright on the All-GSC Tournament Team.

With the win, the Bucs clinch the GSC's automatic berth in next weekend's NCAA Division II South Regional Championships, the Bucs' first-ever appearance in the D-II basketball tournament.

The NCAA Division II Selection Show will be aired live at http://www.cstv.com/ncaa/divii/ at 10 p.m. tonight, where the Bucs will find out their seed, opponent, and region host site.