King ready to end NAIA drought

BY SPENCER CAMPBELL
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER

A haunted house looms just down the street from King College’s hotel in Branson, Mo.

In Missouri since Monday, the Tornado men’s basketball team needed a diversion during their three days of downtime. A haunted house within walking distance seemed perfect.

“A couple went yesterday and some more went today,” King’s J.T. Blair said on Tuesday. “A couple guys have gotten into it. They say it’s actually pretty scary.”

With one haunted house out of the way, the Tornado leveled their sights on another.

The 2009 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics National Tournament begins today for both the King men’s and women’s basketball teams. The Tornado men take on Eastern Oregon at 4 p.m. in Point Lookout, Mo., while the women play College of the Ozarks (Mo.) at 10:15 a.m. in first-round play in Sioux City, Iowa.

Even though they are making their second consecutive appearances, the national tournament holds chilling memories for both Tornado teams.

Since the tournament’s inception in 1992, King men’s basketball teams are a combined 0-5 in five postseason appearances, including fruitless visits in each of the past two seasons. The Tornado women have made the field twice, returning to Bristol both times without a victory.

But King is not the only Appalachian Athletic Conference school that has struggled at the NAIA National Tournament. The colleges now comprising the league are a combined 8-51 in the championship, with the Milligan College and Tennessee Wesleyan women’s teams the only squads to record multiple victories.

“There’s so many schools in our area ... that we’re really competing hard for players,” King men’s coach George Pitts said. “While some schools, there may be only three or four in a 200-mile radius. There’s just some really good teams in NAIA basketball.”

King women’s coach Michele Williams was introduced to the elite NAIA basketball programs at last year’s tournament, when she led the Tornado back to the postseason event for the first time in 15 years. The Tornado were bounced in the first round 76-41 by Hastings.

She also had the opportunity to see Ozarks play en route to their third-straight NAIA National Tournament championship game appearance. The Tornado just happened to draw the Bobcats in the first round of this year’s tournament.

“They were running-and-gunning and up in your face defensively,” Williams said. “I don’t know if they’re as good as last year, but you know they’re going to be good.”

Ozarks (26-5) is a No. 1 seed in this year’s event, its 10th national tournament appearance in 12 seasons. King (14-17) is an eight seed.

The 2009 bracket will be just as cruel for the men’s team. Although the Tornado’s (24-7) opponent, Eastern Oregon, lacks the rich postseason legacy of Ozarks, the Mountaineers (23-7) were ranked within the top-10 nationally in NAIA Div. II for most of the season and grabbed the No. 9 seed overall in the 2009 NAIA National Tournament as an at-large team.

“If we play really well, then we’ll have a chance,” Pitts said. “They’ve got four kids who are shooting over 40 percent from [3-point range]. Their center is 6-foot-8, 260 lbs. They’ve just got a lot of weapons.”

Still, Pitts’ team is optimistic. In the AAC Conference Tournament championship game, the Tornado rallied from a 22-point deficit to defeat Bluefield, the No. 8-ranked team in the country, 86-85. And although the Tornado’s 2008-09 regular season wasn’t as successful as last season’s, Blair said the team is more “battle-tested” this time around.

And there remains a final inspiration – the desperate snatch for departing glory. With the school’s athletic programs entering NCAA Div. II play next season, today’s games represent the Tornado’s last opportunity to exorcise its NAIA demons.

“It’d definitely be a good way to go out, leave a mark,” Blair said. “We’re fully capable of beating any team in this tournament and that’s what we’re here to do.”

scampbell@bristolnews.com|(276) 645-2543

At a glance: King men’s basketball
Who: King College vs. No. 9 Eastern Oregon
What: NAIA Div. II National Tournament
When: Today, 4 p.m.
Where: Point Lookout, Mo.
Webcast: cofo.edu/naia/webcast.asp

At a glance: King women’s basketball
Who: No. 8 King College vs. No. 1 College of the Ozarks (Mo.)
What: NAIA Div. II National Tournament
When: Today, 10:15 a.m.
Where: Sioux City, Iowa
Webcast: naia.cstv.com