PIKEVILLE, Ky. – The Tigers of Campbellsville University advanced to the MSC Semifinals for the third straight year with a 71-62 victory today over the WVU Tech Golden Bears. It was the third time this season that the Tigers defeated the Golden Bears.
WVU Tech would jump out to a 10-2 lead after three minutes of play, but Campbellsville would come right back to knot the game at 12 on a Nestor Colmaneres basket. The Tigers would take their first lead of the game on their very next possession, when Bubba Long scored in transition to give CU a 14-12 lead with just over five minutes gone by.
Campbellsville would extend their lead to 24-18 at the midway point of the opening half, and would outscore the Golden Bears 5-0 over the next 3:30 to go up by nine, 29-18. A Brent Butler three would pull Tech back within eight (29-21), but the Tigers would answer by scoring on their next two possessions to stretch the lead back to 33-21. Both teams would score six to end the half, giving the Tigers a 39-27 lead at the break.
The Tigers started the second half with a quick 4-0 spurt in the opening minute to take a 43-27 lead. But the next eleven minutes were all Tech, as the Golden Bears would use a furious 23-9 run to pull within just two, 52-50, with eight minutes left to play.
After Campbellsville converted one of two from the line, the Golden Bears would score on their next four possessions to take a 58-53 lead. But it was all Campbellsville from that point on as the Tigers finished the game with an 18-4 run to advance to tomorrows semi-finals.
Campbellsville (23-8) was lead by Long's game-high 28 points. Colmaneres ended the game with a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds. For Tech, who finished their season 11-16, Brent Butler finished with 16 points.
The Tigers will face the University of the Cumberlands tomorrow evening at 6:00 p.m. in the tournament semi-finals.
Editors note: The above release was used with permission of the Mid-South Conference and was written by the tournament staff.
