PHILIPPI, West Virginia - On Friday evening, the semifinal round of the 2013-14 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Championships took place on the campus of Alderson Broaddus University, as #6 Salem International University and #2 Kentucky Wesleyan University faced off prior to #5 Davis & Elkins College taking on #1 Alderson Broaddus.
SEMIFINAL GAME ONE (
Box Score)
In the first semifinal, Salem International came out strong, using the momentum of its upset win on Thursday over Central State, where the Tigers scored the most points in a game played between two conference teams. SIU scored the game’s first five points and held a 10-4 lead through the first three minutes of the game. However, the Panthers were able to step up their defense and push its own attack, starting a 13-0 lead and capturing the lead for the first time - a lead they would hold for the remainder of the contest.
In the first half, KWC led by as many as 22 points and went into the break with a 49-31 lead. Salem was able to slowly chip away at the lead, closing it to 12 at 60-48, but the Panthers used a 16-6 run to push the lead to 22 once again with only nine minutes to go. The teams exchanged baskets and KWC closed out the game, 99-77.
Kentucky Wesleyan received a tremendous performance from its leading scorer Lonnie Hayes, as he led all scorers with 33 points. The Panthers had three others join Hayes in double-figures - Devin Langford (14), Donovan Johnson (14), and Ken-Jan Bosley (13).
Salem’s Walter Brock scored 29 to go with 13 rebounds in the loss, while Jamal Robinson added 18 points and Darius Roper had 11.
A night after winning by 49 points, the Panthers continue to impress and are playing their best basketball at the right time as they head into the G-MAC Finals, where they await either Davis and Elkins or Alderson Broaddus. The Panthers won both regular season meetings with the Senators, but lost both games against the Battlers. The two losses are the team’s only two losses in conference and of 2014 as they are 15-2 since the new year.
SEMIFINAL GAME TWO (Box Score)
In the second semifinal, Alderson Broaddus played a physical game and survived a strong second half push by Davis & Elkins to win 77-63 and advance to the G-MAC Championship finals. The top seeded Battlers have now won nine straight and 21 of its last 22 games.
In the first half, with a very energetic crowd, the Battlers slowly built a lead that reached 14 late in the first half. The opening 20 minutes closed with Alderson Broaddus hold a 33-21 lead. The Battlers played seven players in the first half, with all seven scoring at least three points, led by Malcolm Tatum’s seven.
The Senators, who trailed by 17 in the first half and by as many as 15 in the second, cut the lead to six, 51-45, after a 13-4 run with just under seven minutes remaining. Alderson Broaddus called a timeout, but couldn’t slow the run as D&E got to within four with five minutes remaining. The Battlers survived the push and used a big 7-0 run to push the lead back out to double digits.
ABU held strong over the final three minutes, securing the 77-63 win and advancing to the G-MAC Men’s Basketball Championship finals, where they will face the #2 seeded Panthers of Kentucky Wesleyan.
Adam Kline led all scorers with 21 points, while Devin Colston played a huge role late in the game as he hit four three-pointers and scored 13 in the second half. Malcolm Tatum scored 13 and Richard Lemon had a game-high 12 rebounds. For the Senators, the effort of Devin Miller guided the second half run. He ended up with a team-high 20 points, while Brian Dixon scored 14.