Kansas City, MO (3/19) - Point Loma Nazarene topped #9 Southern Nazarene 76-73 in an overtime thriller late Wednesday night in the first round of the NAIA National Tournament held at Municipal Auditorium. It was the team's first win at nationals since 1958. PLNU moves on to face #8 Robert Morris on Friday night.

Casey Ortiz posted a team-high 17 points, 10 of which came after halftime, as the Sea Lions became the second unseeded team to advance to Friday's second round.

After holding a 31-29 lead at the intermission, PLNU built an eight-point advantage on two different occasions in the second half, the last coming at 65-57 on two free throws by Curtis Carlson with 3:27 left in regulation. But SNU closed the game on a 10-2 run to force overtime while the Sea Lions missed two shots in the last five seconds that could have won it.

Ortiz quickly put the Sea Lions back on top with a three to begin the overtime, but SNU scored the next four points to take a 71-70 lead with 2:40 remaining. Point Loma regained the lead for good when Austin Wilcox stole the ball and put it in after a PLNU miss with 2:29 left.

The Sea Lion defense stopped the Crimson Storm, and Ortiz hit two free-throws to stretch the margin to three. Things looked good for Point Loma when SNU turned the ball over with a minute on the clock, but the Sea Lions gave it right back with 23 seconds left and allowed SNU to get within 74-73.

Ortiz continued his clutch shooting though, sinking two more free-throws, and SNU’s Tyree Scott missed a three-pointer at the buzzer that could have sent the game to double overtime. The Sea Lions refused to let the game be lost at the free-throw line, hitting 13-of-15 (87%) on the night.

With a late start and the overtime the game didn’t end until 1:20 a.m. central time, but the Sea Lions were not to be denied the victory that had eluded them for so long.

"I am very happy to get that first win," said Point Loma head coach Art Wilmore. "We played well and we got big contributions from the bench. That first bucket in overtime gave us a lot of confidence."

Knowing this could very well be their last college game, the PLNU seniors responded. With All-GSAC point guard Josh Sanderson struggling to find his rhythm offensively, fellow seniors Ortiz and Nick Corso stepped up.

Corso came off the bench for a career-high 13 points, including three three-pointers. PLNU’s bench outscored SNU’s by a whopping 28-6 margin.

The Sea Lions out-shot the Crimson Storm (47% to 37%), but SNU got to the line 27 times compared to 15 for PLNU. Many of those 15 came at the end of regulation and the overtime, with SNU trying to catch up.

PLNU led 31-29 at halftime, but neither team was able to pull away. The Sea Lions led for most of the second half, but never by more than six until 3:13 left, before the Crimson Storm went on their run to close regulation.

SNU’s Milorad Damjanac led all scorers with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Brent Kimmel had 19 points for the Storm and Brandon Durham added 17, but no other SNU player reached double figures.

Curtis Carlson added 12 points and nine rebounds in the win for PLNU. Brian Ormon and Craig Austin had 10 points apiece. Noble’D Shelton dished out five assists.

Southern Nazarene ends the year with a 23-9 overall record.

The Sea Lions (24-9) face another tough task on Friday night against #8 Robert Morris (27-3). RMU defeated Carroll College 82-73 earlier Wednesday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:15 central time (4:15 PST).

Until Wednesday night - Thursday morning, Point Loma Nazarene University's last triumph at the NAIA Basketball National Championships came 50 years ago with a 80-55 win over Hastings, Neb.

A lot has changed since then.

In 1958 Richard Nixon was Dwight Eisenhower’s vice president, Elvis Presley was inducted into the Army, gas cost 24 cents a gallon and the price of a first class stamp was just four cents. PLNU wasn’t even PLNU. Then known as Pasadena College, the school was 130 miles north of its present location and the teams went by the nickname Crusaders.

Pasadena College, Point Loma College, Point Loma Nazarene College, Point Loma Nazarene University, Crusaders or Sea Lions, the five decade long drought finally ended with a win over SNU.

Maybe it was fitting that the team had to wait until early Thursday morning to do it.