A historic season will come to an end for South Arkansas College on Wednesday morning.
The Stars will conclude play in the NJCAA Division II Tournament by taking on United Tribes Technical College (N.D.) at 9 a.m. in the consolation round at the Mary Miller Center.
SouthArk (21-9), the No. 17 seed, fell to No. 16 seed Hocking (Ohio) College 75-73 on Monday in the first round.
The Stars were led by Damian Garcia, who had a double-double with 27 points and 11 rebounds.
Raheem Briggs had a double-double of his own with 11 points and 10 rebounds for SouthArk, which led 72-67 with 1:46 left, but couldn’t hang on.
Braedon Edison had 13 points and seven rebounds for the Stars.
The Thunderbirds (18-13), the No. 20 seed, were downed by No. 13 seed North Central Missouri 93-72 in Monday’s first game.
Cayden Redfield, a sophomore, had 16 points and seven rebounds for the Thunderbirds.
Freshman Mark Fassett had 12 points and fellow freshman Houston Davis added 11 points for the Thunderbirds, who shot 41% from the floor, but were just 9-of-29 from 3-point range.
Redfield has had a banner season for United Tribes, averaging 20.4 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. He was a first-team Mon-Dak All-Conference and All-Region selection, as well as the Region XIII MVP.
Davis, who checks in at 17.7 points and 6.2 rebounds, also earned Mon-Dak All-Conference and All-Region honors.
Jacolby Pearson, a freshman who had a season-high of 26 points in a win over Dawson (Mont.) College, also earned All-Region honors.
Head coach Pete Conway was named the Region XIII Coach of the Year for his work this season.
The Thunderbirds clinched their spot in the national tournament by winning the North District title with an 83-80 victory over Southeast (Neb.) Community College.
Redfield scored 24 points to lead four players in double figures.
United Tribes has had no problems lighting up the scoreboard this season, averaging 86.3 points per game.
The Thunderbirds rank third in the country in field goal attempts per game, averaging just over 75. They also are the No. 1 team in the country in 3-pointers attempted per game, checking in at 32.5.
United Tribes is also the top team in the country in free-throw percentage at 79% as a team.
The Thunderbirds have played very well down the stretch, winning seven of their last eight games prior to Monday’s loss.
Among those wins was a scoring outburst that is difficult to accomplish at any level.
In the Region XIII semifinal against Gogebic (Mich.) Community College, the Thunderbirds scored 89 points in the first half en route to a 151-107 victory.
United Tribes made 60 of their 119 shots for 50.4% while also knocking down 21 3-pointers.
Davis had 29 points to lead seven players in double figures.
SouthArk heads into their finale having won 10 of their last 13 games with two of their losses coming by a combined four points.