Men's Basketball | 3/8/2015 5:15:54 PM
Kansas City, Mo. -- Pittsburg State got 24 points off of turnovers as they won their first MIAA Tournament Championship. The Gorillas shot .600 from the three point line in the 91-65 victory over Missouri Southern.
PSU used an 11-0 run starting at the 11:30 mark in the first half to build an advantage that would grow to 19 points going into the break. That is as close as MSSU would get as the Gorillas closed out the 26 point victory.
The Gorillas were led by the Tournament's Most Outstanding Player Trey Starks who finished with 24 points, five rebounds and three assists. Dakota Jones finished with 16 points while Josiah Gustafson added 14 points on the afternoon. On the glass Trevor Gregory led the way with 10 boards including seven on the defensive end.
For the Lions Austin Wright hit five of eight three pointers to lead his team with 18 points. Taevaunn Prince and Greg Renfroe each finished with 11 points on the day while Renfroe had a team best five assists.
The Gorillas earn the conferences automatic bid into the NCAA Division II Tournament and will play in next week's Central Regional. All other MIAA teams will await their fate on tonight's selection show scheduled for 9:30 p.m. CST at ncaa.com.
All-Tournament Team
Trey Starks, Pittsburg State (Most Outstanding Player)
Josiah Gustafson, Pittsburg State
Taevaunn Prince, Missouri Southern
Cameron Cornelius, Missouri Southern
Justin Pitts, Northwest Missouri
Notes:
In addition to winning their first title, Pittsburg State becomes the lowest seed to ever win the MIAA Men's Basketball Tournament.
The 26 point win is the largest margin of victory in an MIAA Championship game
The #5 seed improves to 16-20 in MIAA Tournament play overall
PSU becomes the first team since the tournament expanded to 12 teams to win four straight games to claim the tournament title