Box Score
Trailing by six points at intermission, Kentucky Wesleyan dominated Central State over the final 20 minutes to pull away for an 82-65 victory in the semifinal round of the men's Great Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament on Saturday afternoon at Rex Pyles Arena in Philippi, West Virginia.
The Panthers (22-7) face host and defending champion Alderson Broaddus (21-7) for the championship at 1 p.m. on Sunday — a rematch of last year's finale, also played in Philippi.
The victory included a pair of notable milestones, with KWC coach
Happy Osborne notching his 500th collegiate victory and sophomore guard
Ken-Jah Bosley becoming the 40th player in Panther history to reach the 1,000 points mark — and the fourth-fastest to do it in program history.
"We weren't very good in the first half, but we had some guys decide (at halftime) that they were going to buckle down and get the job done," Osborne said. "Our defense picked up a lot right out of the gate in the second half, and that was the difference.
"I think Central State was just kind of gassed there late, and I hope our defense had something to do with that. They're a quality team, but we finally wore them down a little bit."
The Marauders (18-12) held the upper hand at intermission, however, thanks to a 7-0 run that provided the Ohioans a 33-27 halftime advantage.
But it was an entirely different story in the second half, as the Panthers limited Central State to just one field goal in 12 attempts to build a commanding 55-32 lead.
Central State finally hit a flurry of shots inside the final two minutes to finish 6-of-19 for the half, but it was far too little, far too late for the Marauders, who are departing the G-MAC after the 2014-15 school year.
Kentucky Wesleyan was led by Bosley, who, despite battling a high ankle sprain, led the way with 23 points and seven rebounds, adding two steals and two assists. C.J. Blackwell also had a big game, producing 17 points and six rebounds on 7-of-9 shooting.
"Ken-Jah and C.J. were tremendous," Osborne said.
Also outstanding was point guard Marcus Fillyaw, dished a game-best 11 assists to go with eight points.
"He's a guy I believe in — we need Marcus to be even more aggressive in the championship game," Osborne said. "But I wouldn't trade him for anybody.
"We had 19 assists as a team, so we're doing a better job of making the extra pass."
KWC outscored Central State 22-14 in the paint and 31-14 off turnovers. The Panthers outscored the Marauders 11-9 on second-chance points and 4-0 via the fast break.
The Panthers also won the rebounding battle, 34-25, and had a hand in forcing 17 Marauder floor errors. Wesleyan shot 50 percent from the floor, including 10-of-22 accuracy from 3-point range (46 percent), and went 24-of-34 from the foul stripe (71 percent).
Central State was led by Masceo Harmon's 20 points.
