Game Notes
Coming off a confidence-boosting victory over No. 9 Southern Indiana on Thursday, Kentucky Wesleyan shifts gears into the postseason today when it plays host to Missouri S&T an opening round game of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament at the Sportscenter.
Tipoff is set for 3:15 p.m.
“This is a new season for us,” KWC head coach Todd Lee said, “and I think our players understand the importance of playing hard and being efficient, because we're in a one-and-done situation here — one loss and we're out of the (conference) tournament.
“At the same time, we want to build on what we accomplished against USI. We want to play with confidence and know that when we're at our best we're a very good basketball team.”
While Lee doesn't anticipate a letdown, thanks to the onset of postseason play, he doesn't want the No. 6 seed Panthers to expect a walk in the park against No. 11 seed S&T (7-19, 6-12 GLVC), which despite its subpar record had won four consecutive league before losing to Drury on Thursday.
“We had our way with S&T when we played them earlier in the season,” said Lee, referring to KWC's 91-58 victory on Jan. 7 at the Sportscenter. “But, we must also understand that this team won at Southern Indiana this season, and it's a team that's played pretty good basketball over the past two or three weeks.
“Plus, when you get into any kind of tournament setting, you're going to get every team's best shot — and I certainly expect S&T's best shot in this one.”
The Miners feature a balanced attack led by 6-foot-4 junior forward Bryce Foster (11.5 ppg) and 6-5 senior guard Tommy Pelczynski (10.2 ppg).
“They're a half-court team, and they want to make it a low-scoring affair,” Lee said of S&T. “They've got four really solid post players, and they're a very physical basketball team on the interior.
“They're going to come in here and play hard, and we've got to match their intensity. There's a lot on the line here, and I would expect both teams to be at their best.”
Wesleyan (20-6, 12-6), which had lost three of its previous four games before beating USI 69-54, is led by 6-7 senior forward
Anthony Young (20.4 ppg), who produced 25 points and eight rebounds against the Screaming Eagles.
KWC also relies heavily on 5-11 senior guard
Brandon Johnson (12.7 ppg), who delivered 16 points and eight rebounds against USI.
Also, the Panthers will be looking for more of the same from 6-8 sophomore forward
Dominique Dawson, who came off the bench and proved to be a one-man wrecking crew on Thursday -- going 4-of-4 from the field and 9-of-9 from the foul stripe on the way to 17 points and six rebounds in a mere 13 minutes.
“Dom gave the entire team a big lift with his production and his energy off the bench,” Lee said. “With the injury to
Cardell McFarland (20.6 ppg), we're in a position where we need everyone to be at their best from here on out. Our margin for error is much thinner than it was when Cardell was playing.”
Nonetheless, Lee believes his team is ready for postseason play.
“Well, it really helped us to win the way we did against an outstanding USI team,” Lee said. “That the type of victory you want to end the regular season with -- it should provide us a lot of confidence, focus and energy as we move forward.”
