Box Score
It's like Kentucky Wesleyan College has taken the playground philosophy of going to the other team and saying 'we're going to spot you 15 points, let's go.'
Except on Sunday it was 18 points to the University of Indianapolis.
But for the second straight game, the Panthers roared back, toughing out a 91-77 win in the semifinals of the NCAA Division II Midwest Region Championship.
The Panthers were down 22-4 with just over 11 minutes left in the first half, but they knuckled down on the defensive end and climbed back in, just as they did Saturday against the University of Southern Indiana.
No. 18 KWC kept Indy from scoring for one stretch of 4:03 in the first half, when it cut its deficit to nine, 25-16, and then held the Greyhounds scoreless over the last 4:36 of the first half, with KWC taking a 42-32 lead into halftime.
The Panthers flipped the score 28 points with that comeback, outscoring Indy 38-10 over the rest of the half.
All of that hard work leaves the Panthers in the Sweet 16 for the 26th time. What stands in the way now is Bellarmine, an 86-63 winner over Findlay, with a trip to the Elite Eight as the reward for the winner.
“That's what you play for, it's been a one-game season, but this is one game away from the version of the Final Four for Division II,” KWC coach Todd Lee said.
To do that, the Panthers (23-7) had to roll back one possesion at a time, just like against USI.
“I knew we could come back,” Lee said. “Guys came over to the huddle, and said just keep our composure and we did that. We had much better energy once we got down. But we can't afford to do that.”
One Panther making sure that energy boost didn't wane was Brandon Johnson, one of two KWC players who scored 20 points, the other being Anthony Young. Johnson was one rebound away from a double-double. Johnson also had six assists, along with Cardell McFarland.
“I saw a couple of guys with their heads down, but they got their heads back up, and they knew we would make a run back, we have faith in each other,” Johnson said.
A technical foul for taunting on Indy's Jarrett Hamilton seemed to take some of the starch out of his team. KWC closed the half with a 16-0 run, and Johnson scored six of those.
Indy made a couple of runs back in the first 10 minutes of the second half, but got no closer than six points.
The last time Indy did that, at 75-69 with 3:49 left, Travis Johnston put the fire out on that threat with back-to-back 3s from the corner to push the KWC advantage to 81-69. Johnston also hit four of six free throws in the last 1:46.
“That's a (redshirt) freshman stepping into a regional semifinal,” Lee said.
“The shot hadn't been feeling that great all year,” Johnston said. “But I don't shy away from taking them.”
The Panthers made 29-of-61 from the floor for 47.5 percent and 7-of-19 on 3-pointers for 36.8 percent. Indy made 31-of-67 from the field for 46.3 percent and 6-of-23 for 26.1 percent.
Cornbread Walker and Marseilles Stewart joined the doube-figure scoring parade with 12 points each for KWC.
Indy was led by Reece Cheatham with 18 points. Adrian Moss and Wilbur O'Neal each scored 15 points for Indy, which finished 20-9.
Two major stats for KWC were rebounding, where it had a 41-32 advantage, and free-throw shooting, where KWC made 26-of-33 for 78.8 percent. Young made all six of his free throws before fouling out with 4:37 to play.
The level of toughness that KWC showed in this game was what struck Indy coach Stan Gouard the most.
“I know Kentucky Wesleyan and they're a no-quit team,” said Gouard, a former star for the University of Southern Indiana. “We knew the storm was coming, it was just a matter of when it's going to come and how we prepare for it. I guess we weren't prepared for it.
“They drove us, they got second shots, put their heads down and got to the free throw line. We talked about keeping those guys off the free throw line, and they shoot 33 free throws. We didn't keep them out of the paint.
“They out-toughed us. They're almost like, I hate to say this, like bullies. They have a physical presence about them. It starts with Johnson, Walker and Stewart, those guys are tough.
