Box Score
Led by 33 points from Lonnie Hayes, the Kentucky Wesleyan College men's basketball team advanced to the G-MAC Tournament championship with a 99-77 win over Salem International University in the conference semifinals on Friday at Rex Pyles Arena in Philippi, W.Va.
Hayes shot 9-of-15 from the floor, including 4-of-6 on 3-pointers, and made 11 of his 12 free-throw attempts in just 23 minutes of action for the Panthers (22-8).
Devin Langford and
Donovan Johnson each scored 14 points, and
Ken-Jah Bosley added 13.
KWC shot 47 percent from the field, and held the Tigers (14-14) to just 35.4-percent shooting for the game.
"For the second straight game, which did not happen this year, we held somebody under 40 percent and had 40 deflections," KWC coach Happy Osborne said. "Those things are indicators of how hard you worked and help you win ball games."
SIU's Walter Brock made just five shots, but knocked down 18-of-19 free throws for a team-high 29 points to go with 13 rebounds. Jamal Robinson added 18 points, and Darius Roper chipped in with 11.
"I liked the 5-for-15 job we did on (Brock)," Osborne said. "I hate the 19 foul shots he got on us, but he didn't go for 41 like he did last time. We'll take it.
Robinson scored the first 10 points of the game for the Tigers, who led by six points early on, but KWC responded with a 13-0 run capped off by a pair of free throws from Hayes to give the Panthers a 17-10 advantage with 14:40 left in the first half. KWC never trailed after that.
The Panthers led 49-31 at halftime.
SIU cut the lead to 60-48 on Brock's 3-pointer with 12:45 left in the game. That was a close as they would come, however, as KWC pushed it back to 20 points three minutes later. The Panthers took their largest lead of the game on a 3-pointer from Hayes for an 87-62 advantage with 4:41 left in the game.
"There was a period in the second half when we weren't guarding," Osborne said. "We started rebounding and guarding again. Jumping to the ball, guarding the shot — we did a little bit better. The number I like is 51 rebounds (to SIU's 34)."
The Panthers will play host school and top-seeded Alderson Broaddus in the G-MAC Tournament title game today at 1 p.m.
"We've got less than 24 hours before we have to go and do it again," Osborne said. "We've got a good chance to end our season on an uptick, and I just hope we can."
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