PHILIPPI, W.V. – The hype surrounding the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Championship has been building for some time with the playoff picture determined relatively early in the process as the regular season unfolded.
Alderson Broaddus emerged as the host, regular-season champion and top seed, and the conference tournament has returned inside Rex Pyles Arena for the second straight year.
The Battlers have a balanced lineup, a savvy veteran coach roaming the sidelines and the support of the close-knit community/home crowd in its arsenal as the postseason officially gets underway tomorrow.
But five other teams come in chomping at the bit and have aspirations of bringing the G-MAC Championship trophy back to their respective campuses while knocking the Battlers off their pedestal.
Impressive guard play has reigned supreme throughout the balanced league this year and the same story should unfold with “March Madness” officially ready to take flight within the G-MAC.
AB will enjoy a first-round bye in the top half of the bracket along with second-seeded Kentucky Wesleyan (21-7, 10-4 G-MAC). Regional implications are on the line for the favored Battlers, who moved from a three-way tie in 10th to sole possession of the same spot following today’s new announcement by the NCAA.
Quarterfinal action heats up on the court tomorrow with the first game featuring No. 3 Central State (17-11, 9-5 G-MAC) tussling with No. 6 Ohio Valley (9-15, 6-8 G-MAC).
The late game will showcase No. 4 Cedarville (13-15, 9-5 G-MAC) in a primetime showdown against No. 5 Trevecca Nazarene (12-14, 8-6 G-MAC).
Alderson Broaddus and Kentucky Wesleyan will wait in the wings awaiting the winners of those opening-round matchups. AB will meet either TNU or Cedarville while KWC squares off against OVU or CSU on Friday.
The championship title game will take place on Saturday at 2 p.m. EST.
G-MACsports.com will feature live coverage of each game, including streaming video/audio and live stats. Postgame press conferences from the winning coach and a player to be determined will also be included on the conference website following the conclusion of each game.
No. 6 Ohio Valley (9-15, 6-8 G-MAC)
As the final seed, the Fighting Scots have a compelling case to make as a bracket buster in their opening-round contest. After suffering eight-straight losses to begin a frustrating season, OVU reversed its fortunes and carved out six conference wins.
On their resume, the Fighting Scots triumphed over Alderson Broaddus by a 17-point margin and have toppled Central State to the tune of a regular-season sweep. Beating any conference team for three consecutive times is a difficult task to achieve regardless of the league setup.
Electric guard Darryl Walker is one to keep an eye on along with an impact player in the post, Robert Smelser. Walker lights it up from all spots on the floor and Smelser can control the paint with his shot-blocking prowess.
No. 5 Trevecca Nazarene (12-14, 8-6 G-MAC)
Like OVU, fifth-seeded Trevecca Nazarene has a below .500 overall record, but the Trojans are eager to show they are better than what that body of work may indicate on paper. TNU beat a nationally-ranked Alabama-Huntsville program and earned a regular-season split vs. its quarterfinal opponent Cedarville.
Dynamic guard Byron Sanford has been a utility knife for head coach Sam Harris -- displaying the ability to score, rebound, steal and pass, while flirting with triple-doubles on more than one occasion. He anchors a strong starting five with plenty of athleticism at all positions.
No. 4 Cedarville (13-15, 9-5 G-MAC)
Everyone knows that Marcus Reineke is the object of every coach’s gameplan -- and nothing has proven to slow down the senior scoring machine. He averaged nearly 19 points per game while shooting almost 48 percent from the field and from long range. His 91.8 free throw percentage is jaw-dropping and he has been a two-time league athlete of the week.
The Yellow Jackets grind it out against their opponents and put themselves in a position to stay in contention when it counts. CU has won five of its last six coming in and it very well could be a six-game win streak with the exception of an overtime heartbreaker at Kentucky Wesleyan.
No. 3 Central State (17-11, 9-5 G-MAC)
The Marauders have adapted and thrived under the guidance of a first-year head coach in Joseph Price while flashing a high-scoring guard in Masceo Harmon and a relentless glass eater in Raheem Lemons. Harmon is a defensive ballhawk and has the ability to bottle up the opposing team’s top scoring threat. But he also hunts his shot at an efficient rate and can erupt at any given time (43 points vs. Cedarville).
Lemons is a double-double machine and patrols the paint with a fierce aggression. In arguably the most exciting game around the league this year, Central State bested Alderson Broaddus in a triple-overtime affair.
No. 2 Kentucky Wesleyan (21-7, 10-4 G-MAC)
Head coach Happy Osborne is just one win away from the magical No. 500 milestone – and his Panthers would like nothing more than to deliver that memorable moment on Friday.
Lightning-quick floor general Ken-Jah Bosley is a force to be reckoned with while the complementing cast with C.J. Blackwell and Devin Langford are scoring threats from the wing. All three are double-digit scorers in Osborne’s offensive system.
Similar to Cedarville, KWC has ended the regular-season on a strong note, only falling to AB on the road back on Feb. 19. The Panthers have also had a temporary hold on first in the league standings this year several times.
No. 1 Alderson Broaddus (20-7, 11-3 G-MAC)
The Battlers have won eight of their past nine while securing the top seed and hosting responsibilities. It seems as if a different player on any given night has stepped up when their name is called -- Malcolm Tatum, Thylas Perkins, Tobias Dowdell and Richard Lemon, have all delivered and then some.
Head coach Greg Zimmerman’s veteran guile has navigated his program back to familiar territory while the Battlers appear to be peaking at the right moment. The Philippi faithful will be anxious to serve the sixth-man role and AB has rattled off a 10-1 record inside Rex Pyles Arena this year.