Box Score KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Jacob Ranger scored a career-high 30 points and Danny Redmon added 27, but the seventh-seeded Cal State San Marcos men's basketball team was eliminated in the NAIA National Championship First Round by unseeded MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.), 109-98, on Thursday night at Municipal Auditorium.

CSUSM (23-7) battled back from a 10-point second-half deficit to pull within three, 97-94, but MNU (25-9) held the Cougars to just a pair of field goals over the final 3:23 on its way to the Second Round.

Ranger went 10-of-12 from the field, tallying 16 points in the first half to keep the Cougars within striking distance at the break. Redmon pitched in with a school-record 12 field goals on 22 attempts. Bryan Emanuel added 13 points and Quincy Lawson tallied 10, but CSUSM played from behind the majority of the game and, in the end, could not chase down the Pioneers.

MNU scored the game's first eight points to put the Cougars in a quick hole, but back-to-back three pointers from Ranger brought CSUSM within one at the 13:43 mark. Emanuel handed the Cougars their first lead 30 seconds later with a left-handed contested layup, 16-15.

The lead would be brief, however, as MNU jumped back up by 10, 39-29, at the 6:07 mark.

Redmon cut the deficit to single digits with a floater in the lane to bring the Cougars within 51-43 at the half.

Ranger brought CSUSM within five with consecutive layups before Rivera answered a pair of free throws from Luke Thomas with a 3-pointer from the right side to make it 60-56 in favor of MNU.

The Cougars used a 6-0 run to pull even with the Pioneers, as Jeremy Ford and Emanuel converted lay-ins before AJ Gasporra hit a fall away jumper to make it 68-68 with 13:32 remaining.

Adam Eakles handed CSUSM its only lead of the second half with a layup at the 11:12 mark to make it 73-72. It was the Cougars' first lead since the 12:47 mark of the first half, a span of 21 minutes and 35 seconds.

Rustin Dowd hit a 3-pointer his next trip down the floor and MNU put together a 6-0 run to jump up by five, 78-73.

The Cougars drew within a pair three times between the 8:18 and 6:26 mark, but could not find the tying basket.

A 7-0 stretch by MNU made it 96-87 with 5:02 remaining.

CSUSM made one last comeback bid, as Redmon hit a high-arching 3-pointer before a pair of Lawson free throws made it 97-94 with 3:23 left.

However, the Cougars committed two fouls on back-to-back possessions in the backcourt and the Pioneers made all four free throws to take a seven-point lead at the 3:12 mark, 101-94. MNU added five more from the stripe and was helped by a pair of CSUSM technicals to put the game out of reach.

Five players scored in double digits for the Pioneers, paced by 19 from Louis French. Thomas recorded a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds and MNU shot 51.3 percent from the floor. MNU led NAIA Division I in field goal percentage coming into the tournament.

For CSUSM, the loss is a premature end to a regular season that saw the Cougars win 14 games in a row and take down four NAIA top 10 teams. CSUSM was ranked every week of the regular season, its highest mark coming at No. 6 on Feb. 19.

The Cougars will graduate 10 seniors in May – Redmon, Ranger, Gasporra, Rivera, Ford, Emanuel, Hakeem Washington, Adam Alfaro, Kelly Lord and Ali Langford.

MNU advances to face No. 10-seed Oklahoma Baptist in the Second Round. OBU topped Arizona Christian, 83-73, in its opening game of the tournament.