For the third straight day, No. 2-seeded Iowa Wesleyan University had the winning formula in the closing minutes to capture the 2023 Continental Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament championship.
The Tigers knocked off top-seeded and defending tournament champion Florida College 70-66 in Sunday's thrilling championship game at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas.
Iowa Wesleyan won its three tournament games by a combined 10 points. In Friday's quarterfinals, the team got a layup before the final buzzer to defeat the tournament hosts. Then, a four-point margin was enough to knock off No. 3 seed Washington Adventist University (Maryland) in Saturday's semifinal round.
The championship game had a defensive feel from the start with a 3-point field goal by Florida College's
Ethan Smith (6'8''-G/F) squaring the game at 12-12 at the midway point of the first half.
However, the offenses finally found their rhythms for the rest of the game.
A dunk by Iowa Wesleyan's
Gacoby Jones (6'2''-G) gave the Tigers a 22-19 lead at the 7:23 mark of the first half. A 3-pointer by
Carver Locke (6'5''-F) gave the team a six-point lead, 30-24, with 3:48 remaining in the period.
The Tigers grabbed their largest lead of the first half at 33-25 after a 3-point field goal by
Joey Brown (6'3''-G) at the 2:59 mark.
But the Falcons fought back with a quick 11-2 spurt to take a 36-35 advantage following a basket by
Calvin Finch (6'5''-F) Jr. in the final minute of the opening half. Iowa Wesleyan scored the final four points to take a 39-36 halftime lead.
That momentum carried over into the second half, with Iowa Wesleyan building a 56-45 lead after Brown IV's 3-point field goal with 11:37 left in the game.
Florida College once again countered with a 13-4 run over the next four minutes to get within two points, 60-58, after two free throws by
Matt Simpson (6'1''-G). He added two more free throws to bring the Falcons within a basket at 64-62 with 5:39 left in the game.
A 3-point field goal by Iowa Wesleyan's
Hakeem Odunsi (6'6''-G) broke a near three-minute scoring drought in the game, with the Tigers clinging to a 67-62 advantage. That lead narrowed to three points, 67-64, following a Finch Jr. layup with 2:13 left. But the Tigers sealed the win behind a 3-pointer from Brown IV on the ensuing offensive possession.
The winning effort was led by Brown with 19 points after connecting on five 3-point field goals. Odunsi came off the bench to score 17 points while
Henry Shannon III (6'7''-F) added 10 points. Iowa Wesleyan made 49.1% of its field goals for the game and drained 10 3-point field goals.
Finch Jr. led Florida College with 19 points while Simpson scored 13 points and
Ja'Shavious Perdue (6'7''-C) added 12 points. Smith rounded out the team's double-figure scorers at 11 points.
As the CAC's finalists, both teams now will represent the league in the NAIA national tournament.
Courtesy of continentalathletics.com
Matt Simpson (6'1''-G) of Florida Coll.
