Fighting Bees Cut Down the Nets and Earn a Trip to Nationals

Lee Lohman Arena had an electric atmosphere on Wednesday night, as the St. Ambrose Fighting Bees (20-13) defeated the Mt. Mercy Mustangs (17-13) to win the Midwest Classic Conference tournament crown by the score of 95-80. With the victory, the Fighting Bees earned themselves a trip to the NAIA Division II National Tournament, which is held in Point Lookout, MO.

In his final game at Lee Lohman, senior Tom Pavljasevic played the best basketball of his career, scoring a career high 33 points to lead the Fighting Bees. Pavljasevic dominated the game inside, as he shot 11-of-18 from the field and 11-of-12 from the line.   

The Fighting Bees jumped out to an 11-2 lead in the first two minutes of the game, but the Mustangs would fight back to cut the lead to three. St. Ambrose then countered with a 7-0 run of their own, capped off by a three point play from Tom Pavljasevic, to extend the lead to 10.

Reserve guard, Devon Waite provided the spark for the Mustangs, as he hit a trio of three-point field goals in four minutes of play to get the Mustangs back into the game. The Mustangs shot a mind-boggling 8-for-8 from three-point land in the first half. Waite's biggest shot came with 1:45 to go in the first half, as he converted on a four-point play, to trim the Fighting Bees lead to one.

The Fighting Bees regained their composure and closed the half on a 6-0 run. Karl Petersen tipped in a missed field goal at the buzzer to give the Fighting Bees a 46-39 halftime lead and the momentum.

The Mustangs scored the first four points of the second half to cut the lead three, but that would be as close as they would get to gaining the MCC tournament crown. All-Conference guard Matt Fitzpatrick, who gutted his way through a calf injury, hit a big 3-point field goal from the corner to start the Fighting Bees' second half run. St. Ambrose would score 11 of the games' next 13 points to extend their lead to 62-49 with 14:33 remaining, as the Fighting Bees' crowd came to a standing uproar.

Mt. Mercy would cut the lead to 11 with a Mike Wehr layup, but Fitzpatrick buried the Mustangs with another 3-pointer to silence the Mustang crowd. The deficit of 11 was as close as the Mustangs would get, as the Fighting Bees outscored Mt. Mercy 30-17 in a nine minute span, capped off with a Tom Pavljasevic fast break layup with 4:40 left.

The 24 point lead was the biggest of the game for the Fighting Bees and would lead to the "drive home safely" chants from the Fighting Bees crowd. The Mustangs would end the game on a 12-3 run, but it was too little, too late.

Following a Matt Messerli 3-pointer, senior Joe Barrer would dribble out the remaining 10 seconds and the celebration began, as the Fighting Bees cut the nets down with a 95-80 victory.

It was a tale of two halves for the Mustangs, as they shot 8-of-8 from three-point land in the first half and just 1-of-12 from behind the arc in the second half. The Fighting Bees lit up the nets at a pace of 56% shooting in the second half and a 27-of-32 clip from the free-throw line.

Karl Petersen played on of his best overall games of the season, as the junior posted 15 points, 9 rebounds and 6 blocks. Matt Fitzpatrick scored 13 points and Brett Jacobs added 9 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Mike Wehr led five Mustangs into double figures with 17 points. Kyle Hach and Devon Waite each added 13. Brian Buerman had 11 and Gary Mackey chipped in with 10.

The Fighting Bees move one to the NAIA Division II National Tournament in Point Lookout, MO. This is the 7th tournament appearance since 1989 for St. Ambrose. The Fighting Bees will play Cederville (Ohio) on Thursday, March 13 at 10:45 a.m.

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