SALEM, Va. - Despite being held to a season low point total, the second-ranked Benedictine University men's basketball team kept a historic season moving, rallying after trailing at halftime for just the fourth time this season to best Amherst College and reach the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship game.

FINAL SCORE
Benedictine 63, Amherst 60

THE DETAILS
• A tight game throughout, both teams struggled from the outset
• Luke Johnson drained a three-pointer on the opening offensive possession of the game to hand Benedictine the early lead
• Amherst's Jayde Dawson made a layup at the 13:51 mark to hand Amherst the lead for the first time at 8-7
• A pair of free throws from Tim Reamer enabled Benedictine to lead 11-10 with 10:59 remaining in the first half
• Amherst responded with six consecutive points to open their largest advantage of the game at 16-11
• Seven consecutive points allowed Benedictine to take a lead of 18-16 following a layup from Matt Chaltin with 5:22 to play in the first
• Michael Blaszczyk splashed home a three-pointer to give Benedictine the lead for the final time in the half at 23-22 with just over two minutes left
• Amherst responded with five straight points to lead by four and held a 29-25 lead at the break, just the fourth halftime deficit of the season
• Consecutive layups from Adam Reynolds to begin the second half tied the score and a Johnson layup capped a stretch of six straight to give Benedictine a 31-29 edge
• Benedictine made six of the first nine field goal attempts in the second half as Amherst struggled to a 1-for-10 mark
• Tahron Harvey hit a jumper to give Benedictine a 39-32 lead and cap a 14-3 run to open the half with just 13:41 remaining
• Benedictine would not trail again in the game
• Amherst tied the game at 44-44 with 8:04 to play but a 10-2 run threatened to allow Benedictine to pull away
• Blaszczyk finished a three-point play and a pair of free throws from John Dodson pushed the score to 54-46 with 6:11 left
• Amherst would not go away, pulling within a single point on three occasions down the stretch
• Amherst missed a three-pointer for the lead with just six second left and an attempt to tie just before the buzzer on the subsequent possession as Benedictine split four free throws
• The contest featured six ties and 10 lead changes
• The appearance in the championship marks the first in school history for the men's basketball team and the second for any sport (Women's Volleyball - 1988)
• The appearance will also mark the first time a school from the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference has played for the title in any sport

FROM THE COACH
"What a tough game tonight," head coach Keith Bunkenburg said. "I want to congratulate Amherst for a great season. We are really honored to have played such a great program. It was a tough first half, but give credit to Amherst. The first five minutes of the second half was huge for us. I thought we did a better job of getting the ball inside and did a good job attacking the rim. I felt we played one of our best games of the year defensively, it was just a phenomenal effort."

STAT LEADERS
• Benedictine held a commanding 50-30 advantage on the glass
• Benedictine was able to overcome 13 first half turnovers that led to 10 points for Amherst
• Four players scored in double figures led by 15 from Blaszczyk
• Harvey tallied 13 with Reynolds and Johnson each logging 12
• Johnson added 10 rebounds for his 17th double-double of the year
• Benedictine shot 44.4 percent in the second half to finish at 37.5 percent
• Benedictine connected on four three-pointers to set the single season school record for makes, breaking the mark set in 1991

UP NEXT
Benedictine (31-0) faces either St. Thomas or Christopher Newport in the national championship on Saturday night at 5:00 p.m. Central. The game will be televised live by CBS Sports Network. Check your local listings to find the station.