KANSAS CITY, Mo. — During the first round of the NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball tournament, the Philander Smith College Panthers were unable to come out on top, losing to the Crusaders of William Carey University 109-92.
The first round for Philander Smith got off to a late start, not only with tipoff beginning at 11:25 pm, but with the Panthers getting out to a lethargic offensive launch. Down 7-0, senior, guard D’Alvin Brown broke the streak with a three-pointer; however, the Crusaders would continue their offensive onslaught climbing ahead to as much as a 22 point lead with two minutes left in the first half.
The second half would begin like the first one ended with Philander Smith unable to buy a bucket. Third ranked William Carey University continued their first half play, starting the second half still on fire on the offensive end. The Panthers continued to struggle from the field. Although the Panthers showed some signs of life on defense throughout the second half, they were unable to overcome the massive deficit they had dug themselves into during the first half.
Freshman, guard Broderick Brandon led the Panthers with 16 points. Juvon Demerson also added 15 points and 13 rebounds, recording the last double-double of his collegiate career. Overall, six of the ten players ended the night in double digits.
William Carey’s Jeremiah Dunnings and Kelvin Nixon both ended the night with 21 points, sharing the high-point honor for the game.
When asked what his thoughts were on the game, Coach Weaver stated: “I am sure the lateness of the game had some effect on our guys. We were so wound up to begin with and [William Carey] got off some early runs. We did not execute well either and they relaxed first. I told our guys that the first team that relaxes first and plays their game will be successful, and [William Carey] happened to relax first. We missed a lot of shots on the front end, with some of our big guys trying to score on one-handed tips early on.
Overall, I am very proud of our team as our program three years ago was not even in the running to compete on this level. For our team to make it to the national tournament two consecutive years, says a lot. We look forward to getting back to work to begin building our program so we can make it back here next year.”
The Panthers ended the 2013-14 season with an overall record of 20-12. Although this is the last collegiate game for the seniors, D’Alvin Brown will return to the court this Saturday at 8 pm to compete in the All-Star game. The game will be played at the Municipal Auditorium.
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