Oskaloosa, Iowa – The Indiana University Kokomo men's basketball team survived a comeback attempts from Dordt University on Friday to win their NAIA Men's Basketball Championship opening round game. The Cougars held on to defeat the Defenders 82-80 to advance to Saturday's pod final.
 
IU Kokomo lead by 18 with just under 13:00 to play in the game but the Defenders came storming back, having an opportunity to win or tie the game with eight seconds left. Despite the comeback effort, the Cougars led from wire-to-wire. 
 
Desean Hampton led the Cougars, scoring a game-high 22 points while grabbing a game-high 13 rebounds for his 15th double-double of the year. 
 
Trequan Spivey netted 17 points, 10 of them coming in the second half while Hunter White added 14 points in the win. Allante Harper dished out a game-high seven assists to go along with nine points. 
 
The Cougars got off to a quick start, scoring the first eight points of the game, forcing Dordt to take its first timeout. Darian Porch started the scoring before Spivey and Harper each knocked down a triple. 
 
With the Cougars leading 10-4, Hampton scored eight straight points to extend the IUK lead to 12 points.
 
IU Kokomo held a 16-point lead with just under 11 minutes to go in the opening half but over the next 4:47, the Defenders used a 14-2, cutting their deficit four points but the veteran-led Cougars answered with a 12-2 run of their own, building their lead back to 14 with just over two minutes to go in the half. 
 
Dordt was able to cut the Cougar lead to single digits heading into the locker room. 
 
IU Kokomo shot 56 percent from the field in the opening frame. 
 
For the first seven minutes of the second half, the Cougars remained in control and built their lead to 18 points, their largest lead of the game with 12:55 left to play. 
 
It appeared as if IU Kokomo was going to cruise to an opening round victory but just as they did in the opening half, the Defenders went on a huge run, this time a 22-6 spurt that made it a two-point game with 5:08 remaining. White scored five straight for the Cougars to push their lead back to seven points. A 6-1 run by Dordt made it a one possession game with just over a minute to go. 
 
After missing the front-end of a one-and-one, the Cougars found themselves on the defensive end with eight seconds to play and their season on the line. IU Kokomo got the most important stop of their season, securing the opening round victory. 
The Cougars will take now take on the host, William Penn University tomorrow with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line. Tipoff is set for 5:00 p.m. eastern time at Penn Gymnasium. 
 
For the latest news, updates, and information on the IU Kokomo Cougars, fans can visit IUKCougars.com. Fans can also stay up to date on the latest Cougar news by following @IUKAthletics on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.