Great West Conference: Season 2009-10
Top-seed South Dakota held of a valiant second-half comeback by Houston Baptist to win the inaugural Great West Conference Basketball Tournament, 80-76, at Orem, Utah. Jake Thomas (6'3''-G-91), a member of the All-Tournament Team, led five Coyotes in double figures with 24 points. Also in double figures for South Dakota were Tournament MVP Kendall Cutler (6'0''-G-89) with 21 points, Steve Smith with 14 points, Louie Krogman (6'1''-G-89) with 13 and Roman Gentry (6'4''-G/F-87) with 10. South Dakota controlled the first half, increasing its lead to as much as 17 (44-27) with 1:59 to go in the first half, and took a 46-31 lead into the locker room at the break. In the second half HBU kept chipping away at the lead and tied the game at 82-82 with 1:13 remaining on a layup by Andrew Gonzalez (6'6''-F-89). The Huskies kept it close the rest of the game but couldn't overtake the Coyotes. 'We played really well for a lot of that game and then they just came at us and were making shots,' said South Dakota coach Dave Boots . 'Our defense wasn't very good. We gave up a good lead, but then again our guys came back and made clutch shots. We got a couple stops right when we needed to and made some free throw shots. It was just a good win for us. They are a very good team with quality players that are hard to guard. They get after you defensively, but tonight I thought our offense was pretty good. Defense was just okay.' Mario Flaherty (6'9''-C-88), an all-tournament selection, led the Huskies with a double-double of 23 points and 17 rebounds. Joining Flaherty in double figures were Gonzalez and all-tournament honoree Wendell Preadom (6'1''-G-86) with 20 points apiece and Miles Dixon (6'1''-G-91) with 13 points. 'I'm very proud of our team and the way they fought the whole game,' said HBU coach Ron Cottrell . 'I'm especially proud of our seniors, Mario and Wendell, and the way they led this team all season. To get through a tough schedule and to come within one win of getting a conference title and get to the championship game of the tournament makes me very proud of the way they led this team and represented our University this entire season.' HBU outrebounded the Coyotes, 39-32. HBU committed 13 turnovers to 10 for USD. South Dakota shot 10-19 (53 percent) to 3-10 (30 percent) for the Huskies from the three-point line. Field goal shooting was 49 percent for HBU to 48 percent for USD. From the charity stripe, USD hit 25-30 (83 percent), including 13-17 (77 percent) in the first half. HBU was 15-19 (79 percent) for the game and 4-7 (57 percent) in the first half. NJIT's Christine Flores (6'2''-G-90) was the fifth member of the All-Tournament Team. Courtesy of GWC GWC Tournament Final: South Dakota - Houston Baptist 80-76 GWC Tournament Semifinals: Houston Baptist - NJIT 74-64 South Dakota - Texas Pan American 76-71 GWC All-Tournament MVP: Kendall Cutler of South Dakota GWC All-Tournament Team Jake Thomas of South Dakota Kendall Cutler of South Dakota Mario Flaherty of Houston Baptist Wendell Preadom of Houston Baptist Christine Flores of NJIT
All-GWC 1st Team Travis Bledsoe (6'0''-G) of North Dakota Tyler Cain (6'8''-F-88) of South Dakota Mario Flaherty of Houston Baptist Roman Gentry of South Dakota Andrew Gonzalez of Houston Baptist All-GWC 2nd Team Christine Flores of NJIT Carl Montgomery (6'7''-F) of Chicago State Wendell Preadom of Houston Baptist Jordan Swarbrick (6'6''-G) of Utah Valley Christian Wall (6'1''-G) of Chicago State Jheryl Wilson (6'3''-G-89) of NJIT All-GWC Honorable Mention Antonio Lofton (6'5''-F) of Chicago State Jared Maree (6'3''-G-89) of UTPA Travis Mertens (6'5''-F) of North Dakota Michael Moss (6'0''-G-88) of HBU Tyray Petty (6'3''-G) of Utah Valley Jourdain Scoubes (6'7''-F) of Utah Valley Jake Thomas of South Dakota Luis Valera (6'7''-F-88) of UTPA Nick Weiermiller (6'1''-G-88) of UTPA Isaiah Wilkerson (6'3''-G-90) of NJIT GWC All-Newcomer Team Christine Flores of NJIT Andrew Gonzalez of HBU Wendell Preadom of HBU Jake Thomas of South Dakota Aaron Urbanus (6'0''-G) of UTPA All-GWC Player of the Year: Tyler Cain of South Dakota All-GWC Defensive Player of the Year: Tyler Cain of South Dakota All-GWC Newcomer of the Year: Andrew Gonzalez of Houston Baptist All-GWC Sixth Man of the Year: Louie Krogman of South Dakota All-GWC Coach of the Year: Dave Boots of South Dakota | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Boots
