Box Score
The Kentucky Wesleyan men's basketball team closed out its regular season on Saturday with a 103-80 conference victory over Salem International in Salem, West Virginia.
Five players scored in double figures for the No. 10 Panthers, led by Ken-Jah Bosley's 22 points and a 20-point, 10-rebound performance by Jordan Jacks.
The win was the 10th in a row for KWC, and it cemented the seventh 25-win season in school history for the Panthers.
Even with the high offensive putput, KWC coach Happy Osborne would like to see a better defensive effort overall from his squad.
"Today wasn't close to our best, giving up 80 points," Osborne said. "We've got to do a lot better, a whole lot better. I thought Ken-Jah was really, really good in the second half, and I thought Jordan was good again with the double-double."
The Panthers shot 50.7 percent from the field and made 5-of-12 from long range. Meanwhile, the Tigers (4-22, 1-11) made 40 percent of their attempts and converted on 12-of-34 attempts from 3-point.
After leading just 38-37 with four minutes left before halftime, KWC closed the first half on a 15-3 run for a 53-40 lead at intermission. The Panthers built their advantage to 72-45 on a Blackwell layup less than five minutes into the second half, and Salem couldn't get any closer than 17 points for the remainder of the contest.
Despite the victory, Osborne said he'd like to see more improvement from his squad heading into Friday's G-MAC Tournament semifinals against the winner of Davis & Elkins and Trevecca Nazarene on Thursday.
"It's been a super fun year with some great kids -- 25-3 is good -- but I just want to be what I think we can be," he said. "I've got really high standards.
"I think a team beats talent, especially when talent is not a team. We've done a good job of being a team, but we've still got to get better. If you take winning for granted right now, you're done."
Tyler Bell led the Tigers with 17 points, and Lamonte Fields scored 15 points. Gerard Tarin finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds, as well.
KWC attacked the rim frequently, finishing with a 56-31 edge in paint scoring while also knocking down 30-of-41 free-throw attempts. The Panthers also claimed a 51-34 edge in rebounding and had a 26-16 advantage in points off turnovers, despite both teams committing 15 giveaways.
"I do like our 21 offensive rebounds, I like outrebounding them by 17," Osborne said. "Our goal is to outrebound (our opponents) by 10. I think we've got to pass the ball better, 15 turnovers is outrageously bad.
"At the end of the day, we're out of here alive. We just need to do a little bit better."
