GREELEY — Craig Kingman had every reason to be excited Wednesday night after watching son Neal and his UNC teammates win the Big Sky Conference title to advance to the NCAA Tournament.
The crowd joined in at Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion, emptying onto the floor in a rush — knocking over tables and sending computers flying — to join the gathering on the floor.
“I’m ready to fill out my bracket — and I’ve got UNC going to the Final Four,” Kingman said. “I’m looking forward to dancing. It doesn’t matter to me where we go.”
Little UNC is going to the NCAAs. Its climb in just five years of NCAA Division I status is phenomenal. Four years ago, the Bears posted a 4-24 record.
Neal Kingman, one of two hometown boys on the team, and his dad have watched every game of the last five seasons, including a redshirt year.
“This means the world to me,” Neal Kingman said. “This moment right here is the reason I played college basketball. I think we proved we can be a college basketball town tonight. Tonight we showed maturity. We made plays when we had to. If we miss free throws, we find a way to fight through it.”
The proof came the hard way. Before defeating Montana 65-60, the Bears led by no more than four points through most of the last 35 seconds. Chris Kaba’s free throw made it a five-point margin with eight seconds left.
But it still felt like it wasn’t over, to some.
“I wasn’t ready to celebrate until I saw the clock show zeroes,” said senior guard Devon Beitzel, who scored 27 points. “At times we got anxious, but we’re a veteran team and we know what to do. We got it done.”
The Bears survived despite hitting only 21-of-35 free-throw attempts.
It was Beitzel stepping up at the line that helped clinch the triumph. He hit 7-of-8 down the stretch, including two with 13 seconds left to make it 64-60.
Coach B.J. Hill agreed that Cinderella caught her coach on time.
“I’m sure we’ll be called a Cinderella team,” Hill said. “We’ll worry about that when we see who we play.”
The Bears must wait until Sunday afternoon for that, when the NCAA announces the 68-team field.
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com
