Lawrence Reporter

CAC Men's Basketball Semifinals Recap

Top Four Seeds Advance at CAC Men's Basketball Tournament

The top four seeds opened the 2023 Continental Athletic Conference men's basketball championship tournament with victories in Friday's quarterfinal round games at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas.

Top seed and defending tournament champion Florida College defeated No. 8 Fisher College (Massachusetts) 100-58 while No. 2 seed Iowa Wesleyan University edged tournament host and No. 7 seed Haskell Indian Nations 67-65 with a shot at the buzzer.

Meanwhile, No. 3 seed Washington Adventist University (Maryland) defeated No. 6 seed Crowley's Ridge College (Arkansas) 70-64 and No. 4 seed Voorhees University (South Carolina) picked up a 79-72 win against No. 5 seed Arkansas Baptist College.

Friday's winners advance to the semifinal round on Saturday, February 25.

Quarterfinal No. 1 – No. 3 Washington Adventist University 70, No. 6 Crowley's Ridge College 64

A balanced scoring attack led Washington Adventist to pick up a 70-64 win against Crowley's Ridge as The Shock connected on five 3-point field goals. They also shot 43.8% in building a 35-25 halftime advantage against the Pioneers.

Darius Huff scored 11 points while Lavel Harris and Ethan Murphy each chipped in 10 points for the winners. Christian Magruder came off the bench for nine points and Mohamed Bundu contributed eight points and nine rebounds.

Crowley's Ridge made six of its seven 3-pointers during the second half as the team trimmed the deficit to seven points, 47-40, following a 3-point field goals by J.D. Smith at the 15:11 mark. However, that was as close as the team would get until the closing seconds.

Bo Roberson led the Pioneers with 17 points and Smith added 13 points. B.J. Smith rounded out the team's double-figure scorers at 11 points.

Quarterfinal No. 2 – No. 1 Florida College 100, No. 8 Fisher College 58

Top-seeded Florida College had seven players in double figures and scored 52 points in the first half to defeat No. 8 seed Fisher 100-58 and advance to the semifinal round. The Falcons enjoyed a 52-22 halftime lead.

Stephon Martin came off the bench to lead the victors with 17 points. Matt Simpson, the 2022-23 CAC Player of the Year, scored 13 points and Ethan Smith also contributed 13 points in the win. Bryan Chong and EJ Wynn each scored 11 points while Ray Cao and Braden Van Bart rounded out the balanced scoring attack with 10 points apiece.

Florida College shot 50% from the floor and grabbed 55 rebounds in the game.

Fisher was paced by Ke'Andre Penceal with 20 points and six rebounds.

Quarterfinal No. 3 – No. 4 Voorhees University 79, No. 5 Arkansas Baptist College 72

Voorhees shot 53.8% from the floor and got 26 points from Tyler Willoughby to defeat Arkansas Baptist 79-72. The Tigers had four of their five starters reach double figures with Hector Rosario chipping in 17 points while Bryce Wilson and Jordan Blue chipping in 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Voorhees made 20 of 26 free throw attempts to hold off the Buffaloes' comeback attempt.

The No. 4 seed took a 36-29 halftime advantage behind 17 points from Willoughby.

Arkansas Baptist made 50% of his field goals with three 3-pointers while adding 43 points to the scoreboard in the second half. Joshua Williams led the team with 15 points while Brandon Williams came off the bench to have 13 points. Kendrick Robinson added 11 points while Ryan Stowers and Joahua Perkins each scored 10 points.

Quarterfinal No. 4 – No. 2 Iowa Wesleyan University 67, No. 7 Haskell Indian Nations University 65

A layup by Iowa Wesleyan's Henry Shannon just before the final horn was the deciding factor as the No. 2 scored a thrilling 67-65 victory over the No. 7 seed and tournament host Haskell Indian Nations in a tournament's nightcap.

The game featured 12 lead changes and eight ties as seven points was the largest lead for either team. That's when Iowa Wesleyan led 40-33 at the 16:17 mark after a layup from Carver Locke.

The Fightin' Indians made a final push after Bansi King drained a 3-point field goal with 1:05 remaining to trim the deficit to 65-64. Tate Bear split a pair of free throws with 39 seconds left to tie the contest at 65-65.

A Haskell turnover allowed Iowa Wesleyan to call timeout with one second left to draw up the final play. The inbounds play had Shannon converting the game-winning layup to send the Tigers to Saturday's semifinals.

Gacoby Jones led Iowa Wesleyan with 19 points while Joey Brown IV and Shannon each scored 11 points. Victor Munoz added 10 points in the victory.

Haskell Indian Nations' King and Bear each scored 16 points as the tournament hosts made six 3-point field goals and shot 39.3% from the field for the game.

Original source can be found here.