March 9, 2006

Second seed Huntington College (Ind.) defeated Fisher College (Mass.) 99-58 in the first round of the 15th Annual NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship. The 2006 event is being held at the Keeter Gymnasium on the campus of College of the Ozarks (Mo.).

Huntington jumped out to a 49-23 halftime lead and cruised in the second half, outscoring Fisher 50-35 in the final 20 minutes.

The Foresters were led by Mid-Central College Conference co-player-of-the-year Alex Kock who tallied 30 points, five rebounds and four assists. Sophomore forward Doug Scheckler scored 11 points, while senior forward Steve Snider scored seven points and pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds. Huntington shot 53% from the field, 59% (10/17) from the three point line in totaling the highest amount of points thus far in the tournament. The Foresters committed just eight turnovers and had seven steals. Huntington, who was second in the final regular season poll, improves to 29-5 overall. The Mid-Central College Conference Tournament Champions are making their sixth appearance in the national tournament.

Fisher College, making their second consecutive national tournament appearance, was led by first team all-conference junior Mike Newcombe with 29 points. He made 13 of his 26 field goal attempts, 2 of 6 from the three point line. Junior guard Jofre Cruz added 12 points for the Falcons. Fisher shot 40% from the field, 25% from beyond the arc and  were outrebounded by the taller Foresters 27-44. The Sunrise Conference Tournament Champions finish their season with a 15-15 overall record.

Huntington advances to the second round where they will play the winner of #15 Evangel (Mo.) and Bellevue (Neb.) which will be played tonight at 7:30 pm. The 32-team, single elimination tournament concludes Tuesday, March 14.

Box Score