Box Score
Kentucky Wesleyan College couldn't close out Alderson Broaddus over the last four minutes and fell in the G-MAC Tournament championship game, 65-61, on Saturday in Philippi, W.Va.
The loss ended KWC's first season in its new league at 22-9.
The Panthers were up 60-55 on a
Lonnie Hayes three-pointer, and held a 61-58 advantage with 2:04 to play on
Rico Ferguson's free throw, but they didn't score again.
Hayes missed a close shot with 11 seconds to go and Alderson Broaddus leading 63-61, and Hayes missed a three-pointer with five seconds left and KWC trailing 65-61.
"I let us play on, and we didn't close the deal," KWC coach
Happy Osborne said. "My heart breaks for our seniors. There were a lot of tears shed in that locker room. These truly became my guys, and it was a privilege to coach them."
Hayes finished with 28 points, hitting 5-of-11 on three-pointers.
Donovan Johnson added 10 points and nine rebounds.
Dawson and Hayes were playing their final game at KWC.
Two Panthers in scoring double-figures couldn't quite compensate for Alderson Broaddus placing five players in double figures.
Adam Kline and Ali Bilal each scored 13 points to lead Alderson Broaddus (24-5).
Osborne felt like KWC made a lot of progress down the stretch of the season.
"Alderson has a really good team, and this was one of the better games we played this entire season," Osborne said. "We got a lot better in the last week, especially defensively."
KWC made 19-of-44 from the field for 43 percent, and it hit 16-of-24 from the free-throw line.
Alderson Broaddus hit 21-of-50 from the floor for 42 percent, and made 18-of-23 free throws for 78 perccent.
Osborne said he would be getting on the recruiting trail to start building his next KWC team.
"The future is bright for us here," Osborne said.
