KOKOMO, Ind. - The second-seeded IU Kokomo Men's Basketball team hosted fourth-seeded IU Southeast Saturday in one of two River States Conference Championship Semifinals, falling 81-78 after holding a narrow halftime lead. #1 seed Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, and the owners of the RSC's first Automatic Bid, dominated Brescia in a 1:00 PM tip-off, meaning the winner of Saturday's game in Kokomo clinched a spot in the NAIA Tournament.

After just one point was scored prior to the 17:31 mark, IU Kokomo settled in for an early 6-2 lead. The Grenadiers of IU Southeast answered with a 7-0 spurt to lead 9-6. 

Trailing 12-8 six minutes into the game, seventh year Head Coach Eric Echelbarger's squad utilized a 10-0 run to take a six-point lead, capped off by an emphatic slam from sophomore forward Joseph Annan Jr. 

While the Grenadiers kept the game within five until the six-minute mark the Cougars dominated play for the next few minutes, extending the lead to double digits with 2:29 to play in the half.

Despite failing to re-take a lead in the final 10 minutes of the first half, IU Southeast finished the half by scoring the final seven points, trimming what was a ten-point IU Kokomo lead down to two in a matter of minutes. The Cougars led the Grenadiers 35-33 after 20 minutes. 

IU Southeast carried the first-half momentum over to the second, scoring the first six-points to extend their scoring run to 14-0. Now leading 39-35, the Grenadiers extended their lead to 10 by the 12 minute mark,

Facing a 14-point deficit with 11:47 to play, Evan Kretz and Chris Chin drilled three-pointers on consecutive possessions, trimming the IUS lead to eight in less than a minute. Veteran Head Coach Wiley Brown's Grenadier squad quickly built the lead back to double-digits, not allowing the Cougars to reach a single-digit deficit until the five-minute mark.

With IU Southeast in front 71-59 with 4:58 remaining in the game, Kedric Anderson knocked down a triple that kick-started an 8-0 IUK scoring run, scoring six of the eight points himself to pull the Cougars within four with 2:41 remaining.

After an empty possession from each team, an IU Kokomo foul with 1:43 to play sent redshirt-freshman guard Trent Hinkle to the line. Hinkle knocked down both shots for the first of six-straight Grenadier points, as they led by ten once again with 52 seconds left.

Dell DeMyers and Kretz each knocked down a triple to pull the Cougars back within four with just 17 seconds to play, Trailing by six, DeMyers was fouled in the act of shooting a three-pointer. Dell hit all three foul shots to make it a one-possession game with 12 seconds remaining.

IU Southeast's Xavier Price was fouled and made both foul shots, as the Cougars scored a late basket but fell 81-78 to the Grenadiers.

Evan Kretz led IU Kokomo in scoring with 16 points on 6-11 shooting from the field, while three other Cougars followed in double-digits. Max Newman added another double-double to his tally, finishing with 15 points and 10 rebounds, also dishing four assists.

Senior forward Noah Harris totaled 14 points and seven rebounds, as Dell DeMyers tallied 12 points and five rebounds to go along with tying an IU Kokomo career-high in assists with six. Chris Chin chipped in nine points while shooting an 50% shooting from the field.

After bowing out of the River States Conference Championship one game short of an Automatic Bid to the 87th annual NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship, the Cougars will now hope their resume (21-9 overall, 11-5 in RSC play) is good enough for one of the few "At-Large" bids to the tournament.

The selection show is set for Thursday, March 6th, at 8:00 PM ET. It can be viewed HERE.

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.