OWENSBORO, Ky. – The Trevecca Nazarene University Men's Basketball team (16-14), the No. 3 seed, defeated Alderson Broaddus University (17-10), the No. 2 seed, in the semifinals of the 2016 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Championship, 77-55, at the Owensboro Sportscenter.

POSTGAME VIDEO: Sam Harris / Jalen Palm (SR/Louisville, KY)

WATCH: Highlights of ABU win / Highlights of OVU win Thursday 

The Trojans defeated the Battlers for the first time in program history and are now 1-7 versus the two-time defending champions. So, there will be a new G-MAC champion in 2016. The loss marks t! he first time the Battlers have lost a postseason G-MAC contest. ABU had swept through their first two tournaments, winning the championship in each of the last two seasons.   

Trevecca will play No. 9 Kentucky Wesleyan College (26-3) in the 2016 G-MAC Championship on Saturday at 1 PM at the Owensboro Sportscenter. (WATCH VIDEO/STATS)

The G-MAC regular season champion Panthers are the host of the tournament and have a 5-2 edge in the all-time series with TNU. The Panthers defeated Davis & Elkins College in the other semifinal, 100-69. KWC took the last meeting with Trevecca, but the Trojans were victorious in the previous two meetings. In fact, the Trojans are the only G-MAC team to defeat the Panthers this season.

READ more on the TNU/KWC series and the G-MAC Finals (More on G-MAC Finals/Championships) at the end of the game recap.

Alderson Broaddus opened the game with a 5-2 lead, but Trevecca turned ! that into a 10-5 advantage with eight-straight points when Jalen Palm hit a three-pointer at the 15:18 mark. The Trojans would not trail again. By the time the first half clock reached the 6:53 mark the Trojan lead reached 14 (27-13) after a Slay Chol (SR/Juba, South Sudan) three-pointer. Chol had eight off the bench for the Trojans. The Battlers cut the Trojan lead to nine (32-23) with 2:27 left in the half, but Trevecca nine straight to extend the lead to 18 (41-23, :27), their largest of the half. Trevecca led 41-25 at the break.

The Trojan lead hovered just below double figures early in the second half. With 12:06 to go in the game the Trojan lead was eight (49-41). Trevecca put the game on ice with a 16-2 run to take a 22-point (65-43) lead with 8:01 to go. A three-point! er by Sanar Shamdeen cut the Trojan lead to 19, but the lead remained in the 20's the rest of the game. Trevecca's lead peaked at 25 (73-48) with 4:38 left. Trevecca claimed a 22-point (77-55) victory.

Jalen Palm, Tyrell Corlew (SR/Louisville, KY), and Percy Blade (JR/Louisville, KY) all scored 15 for the Trojans. Byron Sanford (SR/Louisville, KY) scored nine and added eight rebounds to lead the team and the 2016 G-MAC Player of the Year dished out six assists. Matt Gamberoni (SR/Mulhouse, France) was limited due ! to foul trouble, but was 4-4 from the field with eight points and six rebounds. Palm added four assists.

Trevecca shot 55% (28-51) from the field, 41% (7-17) from three-point range, and 82% (14-17) from the foul line. Trevecca outrebounded the Battlers 29-28. Trevecca had a 36-24 edge in points in the paint, 19-9 in points off of turnover, and 15-6 in bench scoring.

2016 G-MAC MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS | VS KENTUCKY WESLEYAN

The NCAA Division II No. 9 (NABC) Kentucky Wesleyan College Panthers are the regular season champion, but their only loss in G-MAC play came against the Trojans in a 73-72 loss at the Trojan Fieldhouse on Jan. 25th. Trevecca also defeated KWC in the second regular season meeting in 2015. The Panthers took a 70-59 victory at the Sportscenter the last time the teams met on Feb. 12.  

It is the third straight appearance for KWC in the G-MAC Finals. They have won 11 in a row, last losing ! to Trevecca.

Trevecca is now 3-3 in G-MAC Championship action. This is the second G-MAC Men's Basketball Finals appearance for the Trojans. They played Cedarville in the very first G-MAC Finals.  

The Trojans defeated Central State University in their first G-MAC postseason appearance in the 2013 G-MAC Championships semifinals. In the finals against host and regular season champion Cedarville University, the Trojans lost 70-59.  

The last time Trevecca played Kentucky Wesleyan in the G-MAC Championships was in 2014 and the Panthers rolled 105-56 to end the Trojans season.  

Last season Trevecca defeated Cedarville before falling to eventual champion Alderson Broaddus in the semifinals.

Trevecca has faced KWC coach Happy Osborne in postseason action before. At the 2008 NAIA National Championships Trevecca faced Happy Osborne and his #1 Georgetown College Tigers in the Sweet 16. The Tigers escaped with! an 85-83 victory. Matthew Elliott, brother of current Trojan Christopher Elliott (SR/Spring Hill, TN), was on the Trojans roster. Both are the sons of current Trevecca Athletic Director Mark Elliott.

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TREVECCA VS KENTUCKY WESLEYAN SERIES HISTORY