Wilson Secures Spot In Saturday's CSAC Championship
Story Re-Posted Courtesy of Wilson College Athletics - Original
CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. – Wilson will return to the CSAC Tournament Championship after defeating Rosemont 91-68 in front of a packed Gannett Field House in the semifinals on Wednesday evening. The second-seeded Phoenix had five players score in double figures to help lead them by the third-seeded Ravens.
With No. 4 Keystone's victory over top-seeded Cairn on Wednesday, the Phoenix will host the championship game for a second consecutive season. Wilson also met the Giants in the postseason last year, defeating them 86-77 in overtime in the semifinals.
The Basics
Score: No. 2 Wilson 91, No 3 Rosemont 68
Venue: Gannett Field House
Records: No. 2 Wilson 18-8, No.3 Rosemont 11-15
How It Happened
- A defensive game at the start gave Rosemont the advantage as the visitors jumped out to an eight-point lead 9:10 into the game. An 8-0 run by the Ravens aided by a pair of 3-pointers made the score 12-6, and a pair of layups by Damian Rawls shortly after made the score 18-10 midway through the half. Both the run and lead would be Rosemont's largest of the game.
- Rick Godwin Jr. (Sr., Largo, Md. / Largo / Southern Maryland) helped get Wilson back on track with his second 3-pointer of the game to make the score 18-15 before a blocked shot by Marcus Stephens (Gr., Goldsboro, N.C. / C.D. Hylton / Virginia Wesleyan) transitioned into a Gary Robertson (Jr., Washington D.C. / Potomac / Bryant and Stratton) fastbreak layup to cut the deficit to one. After a Rosemont make put the Ravens back up three, Stephens fed Antonio Bussey (Sr., Aiken, S.C. / Aiken / Claflin) for a dunk before a Darryl Garib (Sr., Dallas, Texas / Forest Park) steal led to a Godwin layup on a feed from Robertson to give the Phoenix a 21-20 lead with 7:33 to go in the first half. It was one they wouldn't relinquish.
- Rosemont stayed with the Phoenix for the rest of the half, although Ibraheem Bundu (So., Largo, Md. / CCBC Dundalk) was able to extend Wilson's lead after he beat the buzzer with a layup to make the score 37-29 at the break.
- At the start of the second, both teams went basket-for-basket with the Ravens eventually cutting the deficit to five after a Jared White layup made the score 46-41 with 16:22 to go in the game. It was at that time that the Phoenix took control of the game and didn't look back. Godwin sparked a run with another 3-pointer before Wilson's defense took over with steals on the next three Ravens possessions. Robertson swiped the first and coasted in for a layup while Bundu provided the second and equaled Roberton's result with a dunk forcing the Ravens to call time out. Once action resumed, Robertson added another point after being fouled after another steal to make the score 54-41 with 14:57 left on the clock.
- Wilson eventually broke the game open with its largest run of the game. After another Ravens layup by White made the score 60-49, Godwin answered on the opposite end with a jumper. Robertson followed with a 3-pointer before pilfering a possession away from the Ravens and dishing it to Garib for a layup in transition. Garib added another fastbreak layup after a Rosemont miss and Bussey closed out the run with a pair of free throws to put the Phoenix up 22 with 8:17 to go. The lead eventually extended to 26 after a Jeremiah Carter-Johnson (Sr., Richmond, Va. / Mills E. Godwin) layup in the final minute before a deep three at the end of the game by Rosemont set up the final score.
Inside The Numbers
- The last time these two teams met, Wilson shot a program record 75.0% from the field, the second-best mark by any team in Division III this season. While the Phoenix didn't shoot that well this time, they still blistered the nets with a success rate of 56.7% (34-of-60), the third-best clip this season.
- Garib led the offense with 21 points and was 7-for-12 from the field and added five rebounds.
- Robertson recorded his second double double of the season as he dropped 19 points and dished out 10 assists, matching a career-high. Defensively he was a nuisance for the Ravens with five steals. All of them came in the second half and directly led to seven points for the Phoenix.
- Bussey finished the game with a double double of his own with 17 points and 10 rebounds. It was his eighth of the season and third in the last three games. Entering the night with the seventh-best field goal percentage in the nation, he scored the 17 after he went 7-for-10 from the field.
- Godwin added 13 points with three 3-pointers. It's the 16th game this season he's made multiple triples including 10 out of the last 11 games.
- Bundu put in a solid night in perhaps his best game of the season. He scored a season-best 10 points and pulled down eight caroms. He too was a thorn defensively to the Rosemont offense with four steals and four blocks.
- Wilson again dominated the glass and outrebounded the Ravens 41-29. Of the 41, 14 were on the offensive end with almost all of them leading to second-chance points in which Wilson led Rosemont 25-9. The Phoenix also outscored their counterparts 50-34 inside the paint.
- Wilson's win streak now extends to 11 games.
- The win improves Wilson's all-time record on conference tournaments to 4-3 with a 3-2 CSAC tournament record. The Phoenix are now 1-1 against Rosemont in postseason play.
For The Ravens
- The Ravens were led by White who scored a game-high 22 points. He was 8-for-11 from the field and tallied seven rebounds. Zaire Mitchell was the only other Ravens player in double figures with 16 points on 8-of-16 and also had seven boards.
Up Next
Wilson will prepare for a third battle with Keystone on Saturday. Tip-off with the Giants is set for 4:30 p.m. with a spot in the NCAA tournament on the line.