[Box Score]
CEDARVILLE, Ohio - On Saturday afternoon in the Callan Athletic Center on the campus of Cedarville University, the top seeded Yellow Jackets played host to the #3 seed Trevecca Nazarene University Trojans for the inaugural Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Championship.
Cedarville, who advanced to the finals with a dominating win over fourth seed Urbana on Friday night, jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead after going a perfect 3-3 from the field to start the game. Trevecca Nazarene, who advanced to the finals with another battle with Central State on Friday night, ending the early scoreless drought for TNU with a dunk by J.P. Nyadaro.
The Trojans continued to chip away at the lead, closing to within three points at 16-13 halfway through the first half after a deep three pointer by Maliek Daniels. The Yellow Jackets didn’t waste much time pushing the lead to 10 points behind another 7-0 run capped by a Austin Foote three-pointer, and once again ended by a bucket in the paint by Nyadaro.
The two teams traded buckets with the Yellow Jackets closing the half with three free throws to take its advantage to 35-22. Foote led the team in scoring on a perfect 6-6 shooting, including a pair of three’s for 14 points.
The second half started much different than the first, as G-MAC Freshman of the Year Nick Drake buried back-to-back three-pointers to cut into the deficit, and after the first four minutes of the second half the Yellow Jackets 13 point halftime lead was cut down to three after Nyadaro converted on an and-one bucket in the paint.
Cedarville responded with its third 7-0 run of the game, pushing the lead right back to 11 points with 14:30 remaining in the game. Over the next ten minutes the teams battled back and forth, but the lead for CU remained 11 after a three-pointer by Zach Brown from the right-wing, with under five minutes remaining.
Knowing they needed just a few more buckets to wrap up the G-MAC Championship, Cedarville turned to the long ball hitting a third-straight three-pointer in as many trips down the floor. CU’s lead inflated to 15 points with 3:06 left, a margin the Trojans couldn’t close as the Yellow Jackets held on to capture the victory, 70-59.
Foote finished with a team-high 17 points and was joined in double-figures by Brown and Reineke with 13 and 10 points respectively. Brown led the Yellow Jackets with a game-high ten rebounds, tied with TNU’s Nyadaro, who recorded a double-double after finishing with a game-high 21 points. Nick Drake put up 13 points and Peyton Henry posted 10 for the Trojans.