Hastings College Men Drop Heartbreaker in NAIA Opening Round

Wichita, KS – The Hastings College men's basketball team had its season come to end losing its NAIA National Tournament Opening Round game 68-67 to Mid-America Christian on Friday night inside the Garvey Center.

It was a tough start for the Broncos as GPAC Player of the Year Reggie Thomas got into foul trouble in the first half and as he went to the bench, The Broncos didn't panic and stayed in the game by feeding Danilo Matovic the rock and he went to work.

Matovic scored from the low block to make to 20-15 with 6:01 to go in the first half. MACU had an answer, but HC went right back to Matovic for another tough shot as Hastings kept within firing distance.

Matovic scored again from the low block in the Broncos next possession as Hastings was now down 22-19 with 3:24 to go in the half. Tough nosed defense also kept the Broncos in the game as the Evangels held a 28-24 lead with :09 to go in the half. Thomas came back in the game and would find Grady Corrigan open for three as Hastings trailed 28-27 at halftime.

The Broncos knew how athletic MACU was and had some trouble adjusting to it throughout the game but never gave up.

The Broncos came out and looked sharp from the start of the second half as Matovic and Corrigan scored layups as Hastings had its biggest lead at 31-28 with 18:50 to go. But then the Evangels got hot from behind the arc making five straight 3-pointers as the lead would hover in the six-to-eight-point range for much of the second half.

But with under two minutes to go, Hastings made one last push as Thomas started things with a tough jumper to make it 66-60. HC was able to get a stop and following an offensive board, Matovic got fouled and would make both free throws to make it 66-62 with 1:15 to go.

MACUs Mikel Henderson then made two free throws and Corrigan countered with two of his own as HC still trailed by four with :43 to go. Hastings pressured the inbounds pass and it was deflected out of bounds and the call on the floor was Evangel ball. But at the national tournament the referees are allowed to review the play and after a lengthy review, Hastings was awarded possession.

The Broncos had time to draw up and play that found a wide-open Corrigan in the corner as he drained the three as HC trailed 68-67 with :40.

The Broncos decided to ride it out on the defensive end and it payed off as Conner Calavan missed a three as HC had :12 left to potentially win the game.

The Broncos did not call a timeout and went with a live ball situation as Thomas worked off the left side putting up a tough contested shot that fell short and with no foul called, the game would end as Hastings losing by just a point.

Matovic led the way with 23 points which matches his career high as he was 10-for-18 from the floor and a perfect 3-for-3 from the line. Corrigan added 15 points as he was 5-of-8 from the floor and 2-of-5 from downtown. Tyrique McMurrin added 12 points and Thomas finished with 10.

Thomas has now set the single season scoring mark at 770 points.

Hastings finished the game shooting 39 percent (24-for-61) while MACU shot 51 percent (27-for-53). The rebounding edge went to the Broncos 34-to-32 and the turnover margin favored HC as well at 10-to-4.

The Broncos end the season with a 23-9 record to go along with its co-conference regular season title and GPAC Tournament title as well.