MOUNT VERNON, Ohio (3-4-2008) - Tuesday night was a nerve-wracking night for the Mount Vernon Nazarene University men's basketball team and its fans as the Cougars' postseason hopes were resting precariously on the final bubble needing two more conference championship games to go their way in order to claim the final at-large berth into the NAIA Division II National Tournament.

The first outcome that MVNU needed to have happen was to have No. 2 seed Cedarville University knock off No. 1 seed and host Malone College in the American Mideast Conference Tournament championship game. Malone had eliminated the Cougars in the semifinals 101-98 in overtime despite 41 points from junior guard Ben Falkenberg.

The Pioneers appeared to be headed to a victory in the championship game which would have given Malone an automatic berth into the National Tournament and would have eliminated MVNU. However, with 9.9 seconds remaining, Malone’s Ben Carver, who shoots 87 percent from the free throw line, missed two free throws with the Pioneers holding a slim 83-82 lead. Cedarville rebounded the second miss and Ryan Short nailed a 15-foot jumper with 0.6 seconds left to give the Yellow Jackets an 84-83 victory and keep MVNU’s hopes alive. Several members of the Cougars’ team who had traveled to Malone for the game mobbed Short after the game to show their appreciation.

The second outcome that MVNU needed was for Northwestern (Iowa) College to defeat Briar Cliff (Iowa) University in the championship game of the Great Plains Athletic Conference. The Red Raiders rallied from a seven-point second-half deficit to down Briar Cliff 77-69 to land the Cougars their third straight trip to the NAIA Division II National Tournament and their seventh trip overall.

The 32-team bracket will be announced by 6:00 p.m. EST on Wednesday with the first round action slated for March 12-13 at the College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri.