OWENSBORO, Ky. – It was a gorgeous day in Owensboro, Ky. on Saturday, but the excitement was inside the Owensboro Sportscenter where the nationally ranked No. 7 Kentucky Wesleyan College men's basketball team repeated as the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Champions with a 91-63 win over the No. 2 seed Alderson Broaddus.
With the conference title claimed, the Panthers earned an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament and will find out their fate on Sunday evening at 9:30 pm CT during the NCAA Div. II selection show. Fans are encouraged to join the Panthers for a Selection Show Watch Party beginning at 9 pm at Fetta in downtown Owensboro.
The regular season champion Panthers improve to 28-2 on the season and extended their home win streak to 48 games. The mark is the longest current active home winning streak across the NCAA, and is good for the third longest in program history. Kentucky Wesleyan also extended its overall win streak to 26 games, the longest win streak in a single season, and is second across the NCAA to Whitman at 28.
Senior Ken-Jah Bosley dropped 29 points to move into third in all-time scoring at Kentucky Wesleyan will 2,102 points. Bosley passed Kelly Coleman at 2,077 points and will try to catch Dwight Higgs at 2,228 points.
The Panthers held an 14-8 lead less than five minutes into the game with Sam Williams scoring a trio of jump lay ups. Alderson Broaddus fought back and held a steady seven-point lead for over six minutes of play. That lead quickly slipped away as Bosley heated up, draining four straight three-pointers. Michael Vigilance scored a lay up in the final minute of the first half, giving Kentucky Wesleyan a slim 40-37 lead at the half.
Williams and Bosley led a surge to start the second half, combining for seven points to extend the lead to seven points. At the 17:15 mark, Williams stole the ball and made a long pass to Jordan Jacks who notched a fast break lay up to put the Panthers ahead by 11, their first double-digit lead of the game. The Battlers cut the deficit down to eight but Kentucky Wesleyan went on a 12-4 run to put the game away and come away with the 91-63 win to go back-to-back as G-MAC champions.
Bosley led all scorers with 29 points while shooting eight-for-eleven from behind the arc. Williams finished with 14 points and four rebounds while dishing out three assists and tabbing two steals. Jacks flirted with a double-double, scoring 11 points and grabbing eight boards. Shaakir Lindsey and Michael Vigilance contributed nine points each while Charles Foster and Brandon Hatton scored seven points a piece.
Kentucky Wesleyan boasted a shooting percentage of 60.0% from field goal range to Alderson Broaddus' 43.1%. Rebounds were knotted at 31 each, and the Panthers scored 24 points off of 16 turnovers. The Battlers held the advantage in second chance points, scoring 18 to the Panthers' 8. Kentucky Wesleyan outscored Alderson Broaddus in the paint by a tally of 42-36.
Stay up to date on all your Panther news by following @KWCpanthers on Twitter and by liking the "Kentucky Wesleyan College Athletics" Facebook page.
