Cougars Advance to National Tourney

Both men's and women's basketball teams will participate in the 2012 Division II NCCAA National Basketball tournaments after an excellent performance at the Division II South Region championship tournaments. The Clearwater Christian College women's team entered their South Region tournament held at Piedmont Baptist Bible College in Winston-Salem, NC as #1 seed and became South Region champions after defeating Toccoa Falls College in Georgia by a score of 72-48.

Congratulations to the following Lady Cougars - First Team All Region winners - Katie Jo Mullens and Justina Bechtel and Second Team All Region winners - Tori Hale, Amanda Ison and Tiffany Pack!!

The Cougars will travel on to Circleville, OH and the campus of Ohio Christian University as #5 seed and will face #4 seed Hillsdale Freewill Baptist College in Game #1 on March 8 at 4:00 p.m. of the 2012 NCCAA Division II Championship tournament.

The Clearwater Christian College men's team also entered the South Region tournament held this year at Toccoa Falls College in Georgia as the #1 seed. After defeating Toccoa Falls College 73-58 in the first game, they met the Suns of Florida Christian College in the championship match. The Cougars were down 32-31 at half-time but took and held the lead up to 1.9 seconds remaining in the second half when FCC's Terrance Taylor hit a shot that took the game into overtime. The Suns then outscored CCC 9-3 in the extra period and went on to win the South Region championship.

On Friday, at the NCCAA South Region Tournament, it was announced that 4 Clearwater Christian players made the 2012 all-region team. Making the 2nd team were seniors Matt Wells and Bryan Spears. 1st team selections went to senior Todd Wahlberg and first year Cougar, Tristan Shore. Shore was also voted the MVP of the South Region. Congratulations to these four and all of the Cougars' team!

Due to an excellent season, the Cougars earned a berth in the Championship tournament with an 'at-large' bid and will enter as #8 seed. They will face #9 seed West Coast Baptist in Lancaster, CA on Tuesday, March 6 at 6:00 p.m. at Central Bible College in Springfield, MO.

View live webcasts being provided for the women's tournament by the Christian College Sports Network and for the men's tournament by the host school Central Bible College. Check the NCCAA website for ongoing tournament results, or view more complete tournament information including brackets and results by clicking on the following icons below: