MONTGOMERY, West Virginia - WVU Tech men's basketball defeated Washington Adventist University Friday afternoon and advance to the Association of Independent Institutions Division I Championship Saturday to face No. 1 seed Cal State San Marcos. The Golden Bears, the No. 2 seed, ran away with a 104-75 win to boost their win streak to four.
Tech had nine scorers during the contest including five Golden Bears in double-digits. The duo of seniors
Sharife Sergeant and
Jauries Thomas led the way with double-double efforts. Sergeant marked a team-high 20 points and 11 boards, shooting 6-for-8 from the foul line. Thomas finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds, going 8-for-10 from the field.
Senior
Jaren Marino and junior
Eddie Gordon recorded 16 points a piece while senior
Leon Cooper, Jr. had 11 points to round out the top offensive contributors for the Golden Bears. Marino dished a game-high six assists to go with eight rebounds.
Freshman
Juwuan Wilson pulled down 12 rebounds and had eight points. Wilson also stole three balls for the game-high.
As a team, the Gold and Blue shot 54.2 percent (39-for-72) from the field and 64.3 percent (18-for-28) from the free throw line.
Eric Lindsey paced the Shock for the game-high with 24 points.
WVU Tech will take on the Cougars tomorrow, Saturday at 4:00 p.m. in the Baisi Athletic Center for the A.I.I. Division I Championship.
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After two difficult regular-season games against Washington Adventist, one resulting in a loss, WVU Tech sapped the suspense out of the rubber match.
The Golden Bears had two double-doubles and were close to two others in whacking the Shock 104-75 Friday afternoon in the Association of Independent Institutions men's tournament at the Baisi Center.
Tech (23-8) advances to today's 4 p.m. final, with the winner going to the NAIA national tournament. The Bears' opponent was to be determined later Friday in a game between Allen of Columbia, South Carolina, and Cal State San Marcos, the latter ranked third nationally.
Leading the charge inside for WVU Tech was Sharife Sergeant, who racked up 20 points and 11 rebounds. Jauries Thomas matched the 11 boards and scored 16 points.
Jaren Marino had 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and Juwuan Wilson had eight points and 12 boards for the Golden Bears. Also having a big game was Eddie Gordon, who scored 16 points.
Thomas and Sergeant combined to go 15 of 21 from the field, helping the Bears shoot 54.2 percent.
"I've been playing well, had a few double-doubles," said Sergeant, a 6-foot-8 senior from Antigua. "It's just effort, going after every rebound, offensive rebounds, my teammates finding me with the ball. I fell like the chemistry is really good right now."
The Bears and Shock split their games this season, with WAU winning 89-87 in Montgomery and Tech winning 83-80 in overtime in Maryland. After the first 12 or so minutes, Friday's game wasn't nearly that close.
The Shock (13-18) took its last lead at 21-20 on a John Grant 3-point goal. Immediately after, Thomas scored three baskets in a row, on a layup, putback and dunk.
An 11-0 run, finished by a Wilson dunk off a Gordon pass, gave Tech the separation it needed at 40-27. The Bears led 54-39 at the half and the Shock never got closer than 13 the rest of the way.
WAU shot just 41.5 percent and was badly outrebounded, 55-28. Tech's 20 offensive boards exceeded the Shock's 18 defensive rebounds.
The result had Tech coach Bob Williams confident for what stands to be a difficult assignment today.
"It's the postseason; our guys are really focused," Williams said. "The way we got better, and I think we fixed some things. We were able to have good practices because of the weather; it wasn't just playing games.
"Sometimes you play too many games and you get into bad habits. But it's postseason, we're at home, the kids get excited. I thought the crowd was great, student body."
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