Former Findlay Standout Honored at NCAA D-II Men's Basketball Elite Eight

Photo credit:  Ricard Orr (RichardOrrSports.com)

Story courtesy of Brian Lester, Findlay Courier/NCAA.com

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. --- Tyler Evans sat inside the MassMutual Center Thursday night watching the action at the NCAA Division II Elite Eight.

The former University of Findlay standout was in town to present the game ball before tip-off of a national semifinal featuring Bentley and 2009 national runner-up Cal Poly Pomona. He also did a halftime interview with CBS.

Being in the building here in downtown Springfield brought back a lot of memories. The biggest memory, of course, is the game-winning 3-pointer he hit against Cal Poly Pomona as time expired in a 56-53 overtime victory over the Broncos in the 2009 national final.

Evans had 2.4 seconds left when he took the ball of an inbounds pass. He dribbled twice to his left and let the shot go with Cal Poly’s Dahir Nasser draped all over him.

The shot lifted the Oilers to their first ever national championship. It was the exclamation point on a perfect 36-0 season.

“It’s something I’m really proud of,” Evans said. “I have probably watched the YouTube video of it 50 times in the past two weeks. Every time I see it, I still get chills.”

The Oilers have a tradition of success at the NCAA Division II level. They have played in the last nine NCAA tournaments and have played in the Elite Eight twice in the last five years.

Evans said the chance to be a part of the UF team that finally broke down the barrier to a national title is something he will cherish for the rest of his life.

Not only did the Oilers win a title, they set a record for wins in a season by an unbeaten champion and became only the fourth undefeated champion in D-II history. They were the only the third team to go wire-to-wire as the No. 1 team in the country.

“It’s a season that is in the books. It happened,” Evans said. “It won’t ever be taken away from us. There is a long tradition of great teams at Findlay, and each one got a little closer (to a title) each time. Last year, we knew we could win a championship.”

Evans is now working for the state of Ohio while taking MBA classes at Ohio Dominican.

And while time has marched forward and he no longer gets to spend his time playing basketball, he is thankful he had an opportunity to play for a championship team at UF.

“It would have been a good choice to play at Findlay no matter how things would have ended,” Evans said. “I never dreamed my career would end the way it did. I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.”