WINONA LAKE, Ind. - Austin Foote pumped in 23 points and Zimmy Nwogbo added 21 to lead the #2 seed Yellow Jackets to a 91-82 win over top seed Fresno Pacific in the third place game at the NCCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship.

Defending champion Cedarville won two-of-three games at the national tournament to finish its first active NCAA Division II season with a 22-9 record.

Head Coach Pat Estepp leaned on his six seniors to contain the high-scoring Sunbirds, who entered the contest averaging nearly 90 points per game.

The Yellow Jackets never trailed and took a 44-30 lead into halftime. A blowout appeared to be in order when the margin ballooned to 59-38 with 15:40 left.

However, it didn’t take long for Fresno Pacific, 21-9, to all but erase the deficit. The Sunbirds needed just eight minutes to close the gap to 69-67 at the 7:40 mark.

CU responded with the next seven points and kept FPU at arms length down the stretch.

“Our seniors have been through the fire so we were going to stick with them today,” Estepp explained. “They’ve accomplished so much during their time in the program. I’m proud and happy for them.”

The six scored over 80 percent of the team’s points and pulled down 38 of 42 rebounds. Foote added five boards and three assists to his 23 points while Nwogbo, who came off the bench for the first time in his career, supported his 21 points with eight rebounds and three assists.

Zach Brown came through with 14 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. Daniel Hickman came up with a career-high nine boards to lead the team.

Brian Hecker and Caleb Maxwell also started in their final games. They combined for 12 points and eight rebounds.

Foote was named to the all-tournament team. He averaged 20 points per contest over the course of the three games and finished his career with 1,276 points.

NCCAA TOURNAMENT INFORMATION