Box Score
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With first place in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference standings on the line, Kentucky Wesleyan used a mix of balanced scoring and strong defense to defeat Trevecca Nazarene 70-59 on Friday night in front of a rowdy crowd at the Owensboro Sportscenter.
Ken-Jah Bosley scored a game-high 15 points to lead five scorers in double figures for the No. 18 Panthers, who shot 47.4 percent from the field and limited the Trojans to 33.8 percent shooting.
The Trojans (11-12, 6-2) were led by Matt Gamberoni's 13 points and 12 rebounds. Tyrell Corlew added 12 points, and Percy Blade and Mac Walden scored 10 points each. Known as an offensively-explosive team, Trevecca converted just 8-of-28 attempts from 3-point range.
Osborne credited his team's defense and the energy from the crowd as the deciding factors of the game.
"We wanted to contest 3-pointers, and we did pretty good on that with 8-for-28 — that's good," he said. "What I'm disappointed with is our rebounding, they killed us on the glass. We've got to fix that.
"I like 33.8 (percent). I'll be honest — we didn't play great, but we played defense. And I thought our fans were outstanding. No doubt, it helped us. I love our fans, our fans were great. It means so much to our kids."
According to Morgan, Friday's win not only put the Panthers on top of the regular-season standings, but it also served as a bit of redemption after suffering a 73-72 loss to the Trojans on Jan. 25 in Nashville.
"We went down there a week and a half ago and we lost by one point, and it hurt," the 6-foot-8 senior said. "We were undefeated in the conference. We knew all along what we had, and we knew we let one slip away. We had to give it our all tonight."
Morgan's offensive putback just minutes into the contest broke an early tie, and his free throw capped off a 17-0 Panthers run that put KWC ahead 21-4 with 9:45 left in the 1st half. However, the Trojans were able to chip away at the deficit and cut the lead to 33-26 at intermission.
"Then we stopped," Osborne said of the run. "We defended well for a while, but we can play with more intensity, and we can play harder."
Trevecca got within three points on a 3-pointer by Blade six minutes into the second half, but the Panthers pushed back ahead by 10 points on a Bosley steal and layup with 10:44 left to play. His score put KWC up 51-41, and the Trojans got no closer than six points the rest of the way.
The victory was the sixth in a row for the Panthers, who have their sights set on hosting the conference tournament in early March.
"We're confident," Morgan said. "We feel we can do anything we put our minds to, and I feel like we're going to get better day by day."
The last four regular-season games will be crucial, Osborne noted, and continued improvement will be the key if the Panthers hope to not only host, but win, the G-MAC tournament.
"We've got to get ready for Davis & Elkins on Thursday," he said. "We'll let our guys rest tomorrow and then get back to work Sunday. We'll keep going, but we're a long way from the project I want us to be."
