The Park University men's basketball program hosted some of the best teams the NAIA has to offer at the Remy Williams Memorial Invitational on Friday and Saturday. The Pirates were in Breckon Sports Center for the start of the program's 66th year, and it began with No. 3 Georgetown College and No. 2 Arizona Christian University. 

The Pirates fell in both games, despite the matchup with Arizona Christian coming down to the wire in a three-point loss. Park begins the year 0-2. Going beyond basketball, the participants of the tournament and guests generated over $1,000 for Mothers Against Drunk Driving as a tribute to the name sake of the invitational, Remington Williams.

Park vs No. 3 Georgetown | L, 64-84 | BOX SCORE

The Pirates were led in the first half by three members making their Park debut. Bayley Crawford put up seven points, including two dunks get the crowd going in Breckon Sports Center. Clarence King and Otavio Armani each supported the Park cause with three-for-six halves for six points. 

Neither side were effective from distance, as only two threes were made by the Tigers on 11 attempts and no three-pointers were made by Park. 

The Pirates got to a five-point lead off of a jumper and layup by Tristan McRoberts and Armani, 14-9 at the 14:20 mark. The Pirates remained out front and Mannie Odo added dunk at the 11:34 mark to give Park a six-point lead, 20-14. A 10-0 run by Georgetown flipped the game and they led 26-22 with seven minutes to go. The Pirates were able to tie the score one more time before going to halftime 33-29 against the Tigers.

A 13-4 run aided by three shots from range by the Tigers got them to a more comfortable lead at the 15 minute mark, 52-39. A couple more threes rained down for the Tigers as the half progressed, answered by an Armani three-pointer as well, but at this point with 10:54 the Tigers were working on a 16-point lead, 62-46. By the end of the game, the Tigers go to their largest lead of 24 points with 1:14 left in the game, as Georgetown pulled away in the second half for a 84-64 win.

By the end of the game, Georgetown was 11-of-24 from beyond the arc to only one-of-13 for the Pirates. Park had the same number of made free-throws as the Tigers, but seven-of-18 from the line left some significant points on the floor for Park. Georgetown on the other hand was seven-of-eight from the charity stripe.

From the bench, Tyler Burrows gave Park a team-leading 13 points, while Crawford, Armani, and King were also in double-digit scoring.

King led the Pirates with eight boards in the game, while Armani and Crawford both got to work on the offensive glass with three offensive rebounds each.

Park vs No. 2 Arizona Christian | L, 74-77 | BOX SCORE

It was another strong start for Park and they even raised the bar against another tough opponent in Arizona Christian, ending in just a three-point loss, 77-74. The Crawford and King combo was on display early, as two two-point buckets by both players got Park to a 6-3 lead, but then King splashed a three-pointer to give Park a 9-4 lead  in the early going. McRoberts got in on the three-point shooting and extended Park lead to eight, 12-4. 

The Pirates got a lift from Mikkel Cintron with a lay-in and a made three-pointer at the 7:58 mark to go up 29-19 over the Firestorm. That would be the last score from Park until the 1:10 mark at, which point the Firestorm had tied it back up at 29-29. Crawford got the last bucket of the half for Park and both teams went to the lockeroom tied at 31-31.

Arizona Christian tied the score two times out of halftime and took the lead 37-35 at 17:12. Cintron regained the lead for Park with another three-pointer, but Arizona Christian would regain the lead and went up eight points at 13:08, 48-40. The Pirates were able to tie the game at 53-53, but that would be the closest the Pirates would get. Park still made the Firestorm work all the way to the finish and it was not until free-throws by Arizona Christian that sealed the game. King hit a half court shot to make it a three-point game at the final horn, but at that point there was not more time to make up ground for Park, 77-74.

Arizona Christian was just four-of-18 from deep, while the Pirates shot considerably better from three at 40-percent, six-of-15. 

Park was at 49-percent from the field to Arizona Christian's 40-percent, but 23-of-28 at the line for the Firestorm was a difference in the contest. The Pirates were considerably better from the night before at the line, shooting 14-of-15 in free-throws.

Park had three less turnovers than the Firstorm's 16, leading to 18 points off turnovers for Park compared to just nine for Arizona Christian. 

King was the leading scorer for Park with 23 points and was two-of-four from deep with five assists. 

A similar crowd to the night before were in double-figures including Crawford, McRoberts, and Armani. Cintron and Burrows gave good contributions as well with eight and seven-point games.

McRoberts found the openings in the defense for seven assists in the game, while Armani did the heavy lifting down low with eight rebounds.

Park will play three games starting Friday, November 7 through Sunday in Lawrence, Kan. at the Ernie Stevens Jr. Classic hosted by Haskell Indian Nations University. Park begins play with Haskell at 7:30pm Friday, Southwestern College (Kan.) on Saturday at 2pm, and finishing with Four Winds University on Sunday at 12:30pm. WATCH