FARMERS BRANCH, Texas – The Dallas Christian College men's basketball team suffered a heartbreaking setback on Tuesday evening to Southwestern Adventist University, 70-69. The Crusaders, who are hosting the National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association (NCCAA) Southwest Regional for men's and women's basketball, were playing as the fourth seed against the fifth seeded Knights in a play-in game for the last seed in the main tournament that had the men's quarterfinals scheduled for Thursday, February 25.

DCC grabbed the early momentum, leading by as many as 16 over midway in the first half. The Knights did fight back and trained just by six at halftime. It was a tight second half with nine lead changes and seven ties in that stanza alone. With just a touch over a minute left, Reggie Daniels had a huge offensive rebound and basket that lifted the home team up 66-64. Southwestern Adventist countered with a trey by Christian Corion on the next play. The Crusaders missed the next shot from downtown in the left corner, but a steal by Daniels gave them the ball back and this time Moses Compton connected in that same spot in front of his faithful teammates. With 21 seconds left, the Knights dribbled the clock down to 10 seconds and asked for a timeout. Out of the break Justin Lamb dialed up for a shot at the top of the three-point line and was fouled. He made three crucial shots to advance the Knights.

The Crusaders did not go without a final effort by Versache Buchanan at mid-court as his prayer ended up on the front iron. Buchanan delivered a game-high 19 points and added five rebounds, three assists, and six steals. Daniels nearly grabbed a double-double with 17 points and nine boards. Elijah Barth had all 13 of his points in the opening stanza.

The Knights were led by Sitivi Fehoko with 17 points. T'Cory James and Lamb contributed 13 points each. Ephraim Viadex dished seven assists and swiped six steals. Christian Corion had a game-high 12 rebounds.

It was the tale of two periods for the Crusaders, who blistered in the first 20 minutes with a 53.6 percent field goal shooting mark compared to 28.6 percent.

After scoring the first five points, the Crusaders let the gap shrink on a couple of plays but quickly surged to a double-digit edge thanks to 13 straight points. Barth had consecutive triples and was on a mission with a steal that led to his third basket in a row and registered the last eight DCC points. The sophomore out of Lewisville, Texas, capped his exciting stretch with a blocked shot.

There were a couple of moments late in the half that Southwestern Adventist pulled within five, but the lead was still manageable at the break. In the second half, Jalen Perez hit a three to push DCC's lead to eight but the Knights stayed strong and stole the momentum. They eventually knotted the score at 48 with 11:36 left and a layup by Josue Mireles gave them their first lead of the half. The team shot 55.6 percent in the last 20 minutes and were a bit moe effective at the charity stripe at 12-for-17.

Dallas Christian drops to 6-7 against NCCAA opponents this season and lost at home for just the second time all year in 10 outings.

Southwestern Adventist will play on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. as the fourth seed in the South against the first seed in the North, Barclay College.

The Crusaders endured a lot of challenges in a season affected by the coronavirus. This youthful roster of two juniors and no seniors played an exciting brand of basketball that was fast and featured several highlight moments. This included three overtime wins at the home confines.