On Saturday, the Great Midwest Athletic Conference will crown its second Men’s and Women’s Basketball champions, though they will be the first as an active NCAA Division II conference. This afternoon in Philippi, West Virginia (Men’s) and in Nashville, Tennessee (Women’s) teams will battle for their schools first G-MAC titles of the 2013-14 year.

MEN’S BASKETBALL FINALS

PHILIPPI, West Virginia  - After a pair of impressive performances, #2 Kentucky Wesleyan will look to avoid its third loss all season in conference action and third loss to top seed Alderson Broaddus in the G-MAC Men’s Basketball Championship finals.

The Panthers advanced to the finals with a 105-56 win in the quarterfinals against #7 Trevecca Nazarene and a 99-77 win in the semifinals against #6 Salem International. The Battlers on the other hand advanced by defeating #8 Ohio Valley 107-70, and #5 Davis & Elkins 77-63. Both teams avoided its schedule matchup against the higher seed teams in the semifinals as Salem beat #3 Central State and D&E defeated #4 Cedarville.

The match-up between KWC and AB was expected as the teams ranking #1 and #2 throughout the season. Both teams struggled at the start of the 2013-14 campaign as Kentucky Wesleyan went 1-5 to start the year and Alderson Broaddus started 2-4. Since then, KWC has gone 21-3 with two losses coming to the Battlers, who since their slow start have gone 21-1, with their only loss coming against Central State which broke up a 12 game winning streak and lead to the current nine-game winning streak.

In the regular season series between the teams, Alderson Broaddus won 81-62 in Owensboro back on January 11 and then won 69-62 in Philippi more recently on February 22, all but securing the regular-season title and the top seed in the championship tournament.

In the first meeting, Thylas Perkins scored a game-high 20 points, while Adam Kline scored 18 points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds for his ninth double-double of the season. He ended the year with a conference high 17 double-doubles, almost double that of the next best player in the G-MAC, who happens to be teammate Richard Lemon (9).

For Kentucky Wesleyan they were led by 18 points from Lonnie Hayes and 15 points from Ken-Jah Bosley, but the duo struggled from the floor, shooting 8-21 combine and only 3-15 from long range. AB also had Malcolm Tatum (17) and Ron Miller (14) reach double-figures. As a team, the Battlers outshot the Panthers 59.1% to 32%.

In the second meeting, KWC once again was limited to 32% shooting, but AB shot just 43.5% as the game was much tighter than the first contest. Tatum has a game-high 22 points for AB, while Hayes led KWC with 18 points. Bosley had 15, but once again the duo struggled from the field, shooting 7-21 from the field and 4-10 from long range. They did combined to go 15-16 from the free throw line.

AB received 17 points from Ali Bilal and 11 from Perkins, while Kline scored on seven points, but was 3-3 from the field and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

The Championship game will tip off at 2:00 p.m. eastern for those fans of Alderson Broaddus in the eastern time zone, and 1:00 p.m. for the fans of Kentucky Wesleyan in the central time zone. Live video and Live stats will be provided by Alderson Broaddus.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL FINALS

NASHVILLE - #1 Trevecca Nazarene enters the conference champion finals against #3 Kentucky Wesleyan looking to avoid back-to-back losses in the conference finals as the top overall seed and host, losing last season in the season finale.

The Panthers advanced to the finals with a 77-44 win in the quarterfinals against #6 Ohio Valley and then upset #2 Cedarville in a dramatic come-from-behind overtime win, 99-94 in the semifinals. The Trojans got to the finals by defeating #8 Central State 77-63, and #5 Ursuline, 79-69. TNU had to come from behind in both games, trailing in the second half each time.

For Trevecca, they seemed to get what they wanted on paper, as KWC defeated Cedarville, which handed the Trojans their only two conference losses this season. TNU defeated Kentucky Wesleyan twice this season, but did so by a combined four points. In the first meeting on January 18, the Trojans won 61-60, holding off a late charge by KWC. Trevecca led by six points in the game with just three minutes left.

In the second meeting, TNU once again pulled out a victory winning by three points, 65-62, but once again led by six points with just under two minutes to go this time and found themselves up only a point with less than 30 seconds on the clock. They survived on a jumper by Jordanne Gambill and a blocked shot and rebound by Kaci Britt Bell at the buzzer.  

For Trevecca, Bell scored a team-high 17 points in the first win, with Anna Mitcheel (12) and Sarah Raby (11) joining her in double-figures. In the second meeting, Raby and and Christina Curtner each had a team-high 15 points, while Helen Mitchner has 11. Curtner recorded a double-double as she pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds.

The Panthers received a game-high 19 points in the first loss, and while no other player reached double-figures, Shelbi Tyra and Asia Coates each had nine. TNU held the rebounding advantage 37-30, though KWC forced 17 turnovers to only 11 for them. In the second loss, Kourtney Rhoads scored 20 points, while Jordanne Gambill added 15, and T’Essence Phelps pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds. Rhoads twin sister, Karly Rhoads, who was the G-MAC Player of the Year, scored just two points and was 0-5 from the field in game two.  

The Championship game will tip off at 1:00 p.m. eastern and 2:00 p.m. central. Live video, audio, and stats will be provided by Trevecca Nazarene through Stretch Internet.

Follow the G-MAC on Twitter @GreatMidwestAC for all your news, notes, and interactive content from the conference, and also @G_MACscores for all your scores and results from all the conference games and events throughout the year.