Game notes
With just four games remaining on the schedule, the Kentucky Wesleyan men's college basketball team has put itself in prime position to claim the Great Midwest Athletic Conference regular-season title and host the conference tournament for the first time.
Standing in the Panthers' way, however, is G-MAC leader Alderson Broaddus — the same team that KWC will square off against Thursday night at Rex Pyles Arena in Philippi, West Virginia.
The Panthers (18-6, 7-3 in G-MAC) defeated the Battlers (17-7, 8-3) for the first time in the teams' two-year series last month in a 74-48 victory on Jan. 24, but KWC coach Happy Osborne doesn't expect another double-digit win to come with ease.
"We're going into a really hostile environment," Osborne said. "They've got three (conference) losses, we've got three losses. I'm under no illusion that it's going to be anything like it was here. We're going to have to be tough."
Coach Chris Cottrell's Alderson Broaddus squad is led by 6-foot-2 junior guard Malcolm Tatum (14.4 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.5 apg), while other expected starters include 6-4 junior guard Thyklas Perkins (12.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg), 6-5 junior forward Richard Lemon (11.6 ppg, 6.1 rpg), 6-3 senior guard Ali Bilal (9.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg) and 6-7 forward Tobias Dowdell (8.5 ppg, 7.1 rpg).
Though KWC beat the Battlers last month, Osborne said his team can't afford any mistakes as the season draws to a close. In fact, he added, facing the top team in the conference during the final two weeks of the season "is what it's all about."
"It's a great challenge," Osborne said. "Just like last year, we're in the last two weeks of the season with a chance to win the conference championship. Not everybody has that, and that's something that when you earn it, you ought to love it."
Osborne even likened his team's position to competing in golf tournaments during the summer.
"I'm awful, but the reason it's fun is because you've got that last hole, and you've got a five-foot putt, and you either do or you don't," he said. "The only thing better than competing for a championship on a daily basis in February is doing it on a daily basis in March.
"That's a step that we have to take as a program, but going two years where every loss hurts you for the NCAA Tournament and no (guaranteed) bid, it makes you tougher, and we've still got a long way to go in that. I think it's fun, and I think that's what it's all about. I'm glad to be able to coach in a place where we have high goals."
If the Panthers hope to capture the conference crown, they will rely on 6-1 sophomore guard and leading scorer Ken-Jah Bosley (17.9 ppg) to get them there. Also expected to start against the Battlers are 6-5 junior forward C.J. Blackwell (12.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg), 6-1 junior guard Marcus Fillyaw (7.2 ppg, 4.5 apg), 6-4 junior guard Basil Deveaux (4.6 ppg) and 6-8 junior center Zay Henderson (3.8 ppg, 3.1 rpg).
According to Bosley, who has adopted a similar mindset as Osborne, the best part for the remainder of the season is that the Panthers' destiny is still in their hands.
"First place is still in our control," Bosley said. "We don't have to worry about anyone losing or anyone winning, we just have to take it one game at a time and try to beat whoever we play."
