KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Park University senior forward Herschel Rodgers scored a game-high 24 points and added nine rebounds Wednesday night in the opening round of the 2010 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship, helping push the Pirates past Georgetown College (Ky.), 83-75, at historic Municipal Auditorium in downtown Kansas City.

Park (23-9) also had 17 points and nine boards from junior center Kyle Rausch, while senior guard Terrell Dyer added 11 points, and the Pirates survived four Georgetown Tigers in double figures, led by 23 points from Vic Moses. The loss ended Georgetown's 2009-10 season at 26-7.

"Herschel is a warrior," said head coach Jason Kline. "He got some big rebounds for us and went strong to the basket. That's all you can ask out of him. He is a competitor.  I'm very proud of him and the rest of our guys."

For Park, it was a big second half that provided the game's final surge, as Park outscored Georgetown 51-35 over the game's second 20 minutes.

The Pirates started the second half on a 10-2 run, tying the score at 42 with 16:53 left on a hook-shot by Rausch, and after Georgetown got a bucket to regain the lead, Dyer nailed a jumper at the 15:00 mark from the free throw line to again knot the game at 44.

Georgetown would get the next four points, forcing a Park timeout with 13:51 to play, but Park answered after the stoppage, getting free throws from Dyer, followed by a fade-away baseline jumper from Rodgers with 12:15 to tie it at 48.

Reco Anderson wrestled the lead back with 11:52 to play, hitting the back end of a two-shot chance at the line, and with 11:25 remaining, Rodgers took an inbound pass from Dyer to score off the glass, and after drawing a foul, he converted a free throw to put the Pirates up 52-48.

Georgetown fought back to tie it at 54, but with 9:05 left, Rodgers coaxed his defender off of the floor and after making a tough basket, he completed another 3-point play to put Park up 62-56. Rodgers later made it a seven-point game near 7:00, going all the way to the basket, through the Tiger defense, for a lay-up to make it 68-61.

With 5:25 left, the lead moved to double-digits when Derrick Howard scored at the basket to make it 72-62, but the Tigers answered with a 4-0 run to cut the lead back to six near 4:00, getting a runner in the lane from Matt Walls to make it 72-66. Georgetown managed to cut further into the lead with 2:30 left, 75-72.

Park went on to secure victory over the final two minutes, finishing on an 8-3 run, including 4-of-6 from the foul line in the game's final minute.

In the first half, the Pirates opened on a 5-0 run, getting an early three from Goldeng Deng with the shot clock expiring, followed by a put-back by Rausch to put the Pirates up five. Dyer followed with a basket two minutes in, and the Pirates held the Tigers off of the scoreboard until the 15:25 mark in the first when Hollis Giles earned a reverse lay-in to make it 7-2.

Georgetown managed to tie it with 13:28 left, capping a 9-2 run with a basket and foul-shot by Moses to make it 9-9. Johnne Hamilton gave the Tigers a lead near the 13:00 mark, hitting two free throws to make it 11-9, and Giles scored with 12:16 left, getting a steal and lay-up to make it 13-9.

The Tigers extended the lead to 10 with 8:43 left in the first half when Moses went up-and-under to make it 26-16, and after Georgetown got another bucket to make it 28-16, Dyer stopped the bleeding, hitting two from the free-throw line to return the GC lead to 10 with the clock under 8:00.

Park moved the lead back to single digits with 5:29 left in the half when Eduardo Quintero capitalized on a steal and fastbreak bucket, cutting the lead to 31-22, and on Park's next possession, Quintero finished on a miss by Rausch to cut it to seven, 31-24. Anderson struck from the free throw line as the clock expired in the half, sending Georgetown to the locker room up 40-32.

Vincent Crutcher and Giles each added 11 points for Georgetown, while Walls scored 10 in the game. Park outrebounded Georgetown, 44-29, and in the second half, Park was 64.3-percent on 18-of-28 from the floor, leading to 30-of-63 in the game, 47.6-percent.

The win advanced Park to the second round of the tournament, and the Pirates will play Friday night at 6:15 p.m., against the winner of tonight's final game between Biola University (Calif.) and Belhaven College (Miss.).

A limited number of tickets are available at Park University's Breckon Sports Center, beginning Thursday morning, and tickets can also be found by visiting the NAIA's men's basketball championship home page, http://naia.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/2010Championship.html. For ticket information, fans can call the Park University Department of Athletics at (816) 584-6425.