MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.North Central missed a long distance three point shot at the buzzer and came up just short of upsetting two NCCAA DII top five teams in as many days on Saturday night in the conclusion of the 2011 Assemblies of God Credit Union Classic. Thursday NCU defeated Trinity Bible College 87-81 and then knocked off NCCAA DII second ranked Valley Forge Christian College by the same 87-81 count. Saturday the Rams dropped a 92-90 contest to host and NCCAA DII fourth ranked Central Bible College when an Andrew Berndt three pointer was just long of the back iron.

NCU opened tournament play with an 87-81 victory over Trinity Bible College (Ellendale, N.D.) on Thursday night to give the Rams their first victory in NCCAA DII North Central region play and move the Rams in to the top spot in the region. Balanced scoring guided the Rams on the night. Bryce Burkman (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) starred in the NCU win over the Lions with 20 points including going 11-13 at the free throw stripe while also pulling down 10 rebounds. Andrew Berndt (Andover, Minn./Andover) came off the bench to score 19 points. Levi Kooistra (Brookfield, Ill./Nashua Christian) would start what would be a terrific tournament for the senior forward by scoring 17 points and pulling down 10 boards verses TBC. Nathan Roeder (Hudson, Wis./Hudson) added 16 points and Ross Johnson (Kenosha, Wis./Tremper) scored 15 points and grabbed 9 boards.

Friday night NCU gained back some of their form from a late December run where they won four of six and got another 87-81 victory, this time over NCCAA DII second ranked Valley Forge Christian College (Phoenixville, Pa.). Nathan Roeder proved his medal against one of the best scoring defenses in the NCCAA, scoring 27 and dishing out 6 assists. Levi Kooistra scored 19 points and pulled down a game high 13 rebounds. Ross Johnson added 13 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in the victory.

Saturday NCU played Central Bible College (Springfield, Mo.) with the 2011 AGCU Classic traveling trophy on the line and stood toe to toe with one of the best teams in the NCCAA on their home court before falling 92-90. Central Bible came into the game ranked fourth in the NCCAA DII and after leading 46-44 at the half NCU found themselves down by 12 with about 7 minutes left in the game. The Rams rallied well and tied the game at 88 on an Andrew Berndt three pointer from deep beyond the line. Moments later with 11 seconds on the clock the freshman hit two free throws to tie the game at 90. CBC was able to draw a foul and hit a pair of their own free throws with 3.7 seconds remaining. The Rams called a timeout and were able to get Berndt the ball with enough time to dribble a few times and fire up a three from just beyond half court that was slightly long and the miss sealed the CBC win. Nathan Roeder once again displayed his scoring ability by posting 29 points including going 11-11 on the charity stripe. Levi Kooistra scored 20 points and pulled down 7 boards. Andrew Berndt was once again a big spark off the bench, scoring 16 points.

Nathan Roeder and Levi Kooistra were each named to the 2011 AGCU Classic All-Tournament team. Roeder averaged 24 points per game in the tournament. Kooistra averaged 18.7 points and 10 rebounds per game.

NCU returns to action tonight with a 7:30 pm tip-off on the road at Crown College. NCU swept the Storm in 2009-10.