Box Score
Kentucky Wesleyan bent a couple times, but it never did break.
The Panthers (3-0) sustained a couple big runs from Concordia (N.Y.) (1-5) with a couple of runs of its own to claim a 96-80 win in the Glenn Young Invitational semifinals.
KWC closed the first half out with an 11-3 run to take a 49-39 lead into the break. It was enough cushion to keep the Panthers ahead the rest of the way as the Clippers played a closer second half. KWC outscored Concordia in the second half by just six.
"It seemed like a game of runs," coach Todd Lee said. "They jumped out early. We made some mistakes — some mental mistakes — and we had some silly fouls, dumb fouls. ...that was big to be able to close the half that way."
That run came after the Panthers sustained a few punches from Concordia. The Clippers jumped out to a 17-3 lead in the game's first four minutes during a stretch that Lee said showed his team "wasn't ready to play."
Back-to-back 3s from seniors Kreig Oxley and Cornbread Walker keyed an 8-0 run that got the Panthers back into the game, 17-11 just 2:30 later. Oxley returned after missing the last game and a week's worth of practice due to turf toe. He finished with nine points in 26 minutes.
The run eventually stretched to 22-7 and spanned nearly seven minutes to give the Panthers their first lead, 25-24, with 9:18 left in the first half.
A 3-pointer from Concordia's Lavor Morris tied the game at 36-36 before KWC's half-ending run.
A 23-10 run over the first nine minutes of the second half helped the Panthers pull away for good, eventually leading by as many as 26.
Lee was pleased with how his team responded after being down but said he could forsee the slow start happening.
"We were not ready to play," Lee said. "We have had some practices that would indicate that. I've let the guys know that this was going to happen. We've got a lot of new guys. Kreig Oxley has not been able to practice for a week and he's our senior captain. We've got a lot of new players...it's like pulling teeth, at times.
"Having them do what they're supposed to do and listen...the unfortunate thing is coaches know what is going to happen and you can tell them it's going to happen. But until they live it, that's called experience, and we've got a lot of new and only some experience."
Five different scorers finished in the double figures for KWC. Junior center Dominiqe Dawson led the team with 16 points and nine rebounds. Walker scored 15 points and grabbed five rebounds in 18 minutes of action.
KWC as a team outrebounded Concordia 40-30 and shot 55.9 percent from the field. The Panthers won the battle down low, outscoring the Clippers in the paint, 42-22.
Three Concordia players finished with double figures. The Panther defense was able to hold Argelix Gil, the Clippers' second leading scorer, to just four points. They also got him in foul trouble, limiting him to just 17 minutes before fouling out.
"We did a better job of handling their press," he said. "We got some east baskets that way...I thought we did a better job of taking care of the ball in the second half. We only had five turnovers in the second half. We had some runs and basically, we could score when we took care of the ball and were aggressive in the second half. We didn't do all that in the first half for a while."
KWC will play Shaw (N.C.) on Saturday in the championship of the Glenn Young Invitational.
Shaw needed overtime to beat Southeastern Oklahoma State, 83-79, in the other semifinal. Latrail McCoy led the Bears with 30 points and Karron Johnson added 22.
Shaw (3-2) overcame a 10-point halftime deficit to escape with a win and earn a date with KWC.
Saturday's championship game will be the first matchup with a ranked team this season for the Panthers. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m at the Sportscenter.
