Click here for Interactive National Bracket

The Basics

Score: #3 Western Oregon 81, #6 Saginaw Valley 68
Records: No. 3 WOU (31-3) | No. 25 SVSU (25-8)
Dr. Pepper Arena - Frisco, Texas

Courtesy of Eric Brookhouse, Saginaw Valley State Director of Athletic Media Relations

FRISCO, Texas - Coming off the program's first-ever NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Championship, the No. 25 SVSU men's basketball team found itself competing in the Elite Eight looking to advance even further in the tournament as it faced-off with the No. 3 ranked team in the country, Western Oregon. Despite holding a brief second half lead, the Cardinals couldn't neutralize the Wolves' constant attack and would fall by a final score of 81-68 in the national quarterfinal matchup.

Caleb Davis opened the game's scoring, making good on a three-pointer just under a minute into the contest to make the score 3-0.

Western Oregon responded by scoring the next 15 points to take a 15-3 edge at the 14:39 marker of the opening half.

Five straight points for SVSU, four coming from Vincent Adams, drew the score to 18-12 in the Wolves' favor with 10:06 showing on the first half clock.

Western built the lead back into the double-digits but a pair of free throws from Garrett Hall and a Kellen Smith layup cut the deficit to seven points at 36-29 as time expired for the first half.

After the Wolves got a bucket from Devon Alexander to make the score 38-29 to open the second frame, Saginaw Valley notched 10 unanswered points to take just its second lead of the contest at 39-38 with 16:30 left in the game.

Western Oregon quickly built the lead back up to double-digits, leading by 11 (52-41) with 12:24 to go and extending the advantage to 15 points with the score 70-55 with 2:57 left, marking its largest lead.

Free throw shooting was key for Western Oregon down the stretch, as the team connected on 13-of-14 tries down the stretch and was 28-of-31 overall in the game. That helped them seal the 13-point victory, 81-68.

Inside the Boxscore

• Smith matched a career-high with 15 points in his final game for SVSU. He added a game-best eight assists as well.
• Hall also registered 15 points for SVSU. He added five rebounds and a pair of assists.
• Damon Bozeman went out for his career with a solid effort as well, netting 14 points to go along with a team-best six boards.
• C.J. Turnage matched those six rebounds and added 12 points for SV.
• Western Oregon led for 37:54 of the game.
• The Cardinals posted a 34-32 edge in the paint and 22-12 advantage in bench points.
• The Wolves had 20 points off turnovers compared to the Cardinals' nine.

Meijer "Player of the Game" 

Smith was named the Meijer "Player of the Game" after his career-high of 15 points and eight assists for Saginaw Valley.

The 2015-16 campaign comes to a close for Saginaw Valley, which tied a program record with 25 victories and advanced to the school's first-ever NCAA Division II Elite Eight. The Cardinals claimed the GLIAC Regular Season Championship as well for the fourth time and first time at the Division II level. The team's back-to-back 20-plus winning seasons were the most since the 1984-85 and 85-86 seasons. SVSU loses five student-athletes to graduation, as Sterling Johnson, Adams, Smith, Bozeman and Mitchell Baenziger all wrapped-up their careers in a Cardinal with the historic season.