Game Notes
After winning the Great Midwest Athletic Conference regular-season crown, the Kentucky Wesleyan men's basketball team has now set its sights on continuing that success into the postseason.
The No. 9 Panthers, who are hosting the G-MAC Championship for the first time, will begin that quest in a semifinal matchup against Davis & Elkins on Friday at the Sportscenter. Tipoff is set for 1:30 p.m., and it will follow the day's first semifinal game between Alderson Broaddus and Trevecca Nazarene at 11 a.m.
The Panthers (25-3) have won their last 10 contests in a row, and they earned the league tournament's No. 1 seed after recording an 11-1 mark in conference play.
According to KWC coach Happy Osborne, though, the past doesn't mean a whole lot anymore.
"We've just got to be aware, got to be alert, got to be focused, and more than anything -- what happened happened, and that's over," he said. "We've got to live in the present. That's what we've been telling them: 'Be in the present.' And we've got to do that."
Despite the top-ten ranking in the Division II national polls, the Panthers sit just eighth in the Midwest Regional rankings. With the G-MAC Championship winner receiving an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, Osborne now considers that as the only way his team can advance.
"I don't think we will get an at-large bid, so we're going into this tournament with that mindset," he said. "We've got to be ready to play.
"We've won this league, we earned the opportunity to play at home. My mentality is if we don't get it done now, we don't deserve it anyway. We've got to go."
Standing in KWC's way are the No. 4-seeded Senators (12-16), who got 35 points out of star Kevin Bracy-Davis in an 80-73 win over Cedarville in Thursday's opening round.
"Bracy-Davis is great, obviously, and they're playing very well right now," Osborne said. "Coach (Nick) Patella has done a great job with them. They were down double digits against Cedarville, and he kept coaching, kept persevering, and they responded.
"They've been starting a young man, Teron Owens, who hasn't started all year, and he's been their leading scorer three of the last four games. They're a young team gaining confidence by the day. For us, it's the same story -- in order to win, we've got to guard and play defense."
The Panthers won both season meetings against the Senators, 88-56 on the road on Jan. 16 and 84-78 at home on Feb. 18.
The winner between the Panthers and Senators will face the winner between No. 2 seed Alderson Broaddus (17-9) and No. 3 seed Tevecca Nazarene (15-14), which advanced with a 91-81 win over Ohio Valley on Thursday.
With everything KWC has accomplished so far this season, Osborne would like to see his squad close out strong, and he said Friday is the most important step to get there.
"Saturday is not in my vocabulary, it's about Friday," he said. "We need all the fans we can get. We won the league, and it's the highest ranking Wesleyan has had for a while. The officials feel it, whether they admit it or not, our players feel it, their players feel it -- people getting in here and having fun and being as loud as they can be. That's what I want."
