OWENSBORO, Ky. – The Trevecca Nazarene University men's basketball team (16-12, 11-9 Great Midwest) snapped a 10-game winning streak by No. 25 Kentucky Wesleyan College (21-7, 15-5 Great Midwest), with a 76-71, upset win on Saturday afternoon in the Owensboro Sportscenter.
Not only was the Panthers' 10-game regular season winning streak broken today, but KWC had also won six consecutive meetings against the Trojans including a 101-82 meeting earlier this season in Trojan Fieldhouse. Trevecca trails the all-time series with Kentucky Wesleyan, 18-4.
Trevecca spoiled the Panthers earning the outright regular season Great Midwest title, KWC splits the title with Walsh, but do get the No. 1 seed due to a sweep of Walsh in the regular season.
This season, Trevecca men's basketball have equaled the most wins in the NCAA era with 16. The 16-12 record assures the Trojans of the second winning season in the D2 era. The 2015-2016 team went 16-15 overall and 8-4 in the league, advancing all the way to the Great Midwest Finals. The 11 conference wins are the most by a Trevecca team since the 2009-2010 team notched a 11-5 mark. The 2007-2008 team went 14-6 in the TranSouth Conference, the last team to win more than 11 conference games in a season.
ON THE THE GREAT MIDWEST CHAMPIONSHIPS
Trevecca tied for sixth in the league after being picked 11th in the Great Midwest Preseason Coaches Poll. Trevecca won just two games last season, one in conference play. This year the team went 11-9 the league and 16-12 overall. Despite being tied for sixth, the Trojans are the No. 7 seed in the G-MAC Championships due to the tiebreaker rules.
Trevecca plays No. 2 seed Walsh University in North Canton, Ohio in Alumni Gym Tuesday, March 5 at 5:00 PM CT (
Live Stats /
Live Video). Walsh went 15-5 in the league, tied with KWC for the top spot, and are 21-5 overall.
Walsh has a 10-2 edge in the all-time series including a 72-49 win over the Trojans on February 22 in North Canton. This is the first meeting in the postseason for the two teams. The Cavs are on a three-game win streak in the series and are 7-0 at home vs. the Trojans.
This is the seventh appearance in the Great Midwest Championships for the TNU men's basketball team. This is the first appearance in the Great Midwest Championships for Trevecca since the 20-21 season when the Trojans exited in a loss to Hillsdale in the first round. Trevecca is 4-6 all-time in the G-MAC Championships.
In the first meeting this season, Walsh had three players score in double figures, led by Kobe Mitchell's 14. Zack Oddo added 12 and Aiden Satterfield scored 10. Pete Lambesis was the only Trojan in double figures scoring, producing a game-high 18 points and 10 rebounds for the double-double. Outside of Lambesis, the Trojans had one of their worst nights shooting on the year, hitting just 38% (19-50) from the field, 14.3% (3-21) from three-point range, and 67% (8-12) from the line. It was the fewest made field goals and three-pointer field goals on the year for TNU TNU dominated the boards 40-28, but turned the ball over 19 times to just eight (8) for the Cavs. The 19 turnovers are the second most this season for the Trojans. The 49 points are the fewest on the year for the Purple and White. Walsh went 12-26 from three-point range, tied for the sixth most made three-pointers this year for WU. The Cavs had a season-high 10 steals in the game.
BREAKING IT DOWN
The final game of the regular season saw the Trojans play spoiler versus Kentucky Wesleyan. The win bolstered Trevecca into the postseason for sure while also stopping the Panthers from earning the regular season championship title outright.
Offensively, the Trojans came ready. Lawrence Brazil III scored the first seven points for the Purple and White helping the Trojans to the early 9-2 lead. The Trojans stretched their early lead out to as much as 16 in the first half as part of an extended 10-2 run finished off by a
Jalen Page layup with 8:41 to play. From there, the Panthers responded with a 17-4 run of their own to make it a single possession game, 35-32 at the break.
The Trojans held onto their halftime lead for the first seven minutes of the second half before a 7-0 run by the Panthers tied the game at 49-49. KWC took as much as a four-point lead off that run before it was quieted by a Brazil II 3-pointer at the 10:51 mark. The Trojans held onto the lead the rest of the way, only allowing the Panthers to tie the game once at 60-60. No matter what the Panthers threw their way, the Trojans responded and delivered a five-point win.
KEY PLAYERS
Jalen Page collected a team-high 17 points and finished off a double-double with 11 rebounds. Page also had six assists, three steals and two blocks for Trevecca on 7-14 shooting. Lawrence Brazil III had 16 points while
Tommy Gankhuyag added 14 and Jamaal Cannady produced 10.
TEAM TIME
Trevecca shot 53.3% (32-560) from the field, 22.2% (4-18) from three and 8-13 (61.5%) from the foul line.
The Trojans were outrebounded 37-35, but had more assists, 12-11 and blocks, 9-7. Kentucky Wesleyan produced nine steals to the Trojans' four.
UP NEXT
Trevecca plays No. 2 seed Walsh University in North Canton, Ohio in Alumni Gym Tuesday, March 5 at 5:00 PM CT (
Live Stats /
Live Video). Walsh went 15-5 in the league, tied with KWC for the top spot, and are 21-5 overall.
The winner moves to Owensboro, Ky. for the semifinals and finals. Kentucky Wesleyan College, who shared the title with Walsh, will host the final four of the tournament on March 8-9.
