Greenville To Host 2017 SLIAC Men's Tournament
The Tournament
For just the second time in program history Greenville College has won the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular season title outright and by doing so they will host the 2017 SLIAC Tournament this weekend, welcoming Principia College, Webster University, and Westminster College to town.
Greenville wrapped up the top seed in the tournament by finishing the season with a 14-4 conference record. This marks the first time that Greenville will serve as host of the tournament, as they were not eligible for postseason play the last time they captured a SLIAC regular season title (1995-96). Greenville will face #4 seed Principia College, who is making their first postseason trip since 2005, on Friday at 8 p.m. The other semi-final game will feature last year's tournament champion, #2 seed Westminster College, against #3 seed Webster University at 6 p.m. on Friday. The SLIAC Men's Basketball Tournament Championship game will be played on Saturday, February 25 at 7 p.m.
Broadcast Information
The Championship Game of this year's SLIAC Men's Basketball Tournament will be broadcast live on College Casts by the crew of Bradford Bruns and Joel Borders. You can listen to the Championship Game HERE You can also watch all three games of the tournament on video HERE
GREENVILLE COLLEGE 'PANTHERS' Senior guard Kenny Greene (18.8 ppg) heads up a rotation that features six players averaging in double figures in scoring, while knocking down a conference high 96 three's this season. Senior forward Shane Smith is averaging 18.2 points and a team high 6.2 rebounds while shooting 58-percent from the floor. Sophomore guards Johari Dix (4.3 apg) and Daniel Saeli (3.0 apg) take turns running the fast paced offense. |
|
Overall Record: 20-5 SLIAC Record: 14-4 Tourn. Apperances: 5 Tourn. Titles: 1 Last Championship: 1998 |
Coaches Corner with Dr. George Barber Last year you implemented "the system", can you talk about how the team and you yourself as a coach are more comfortable with it this year? |
PRINCIPIA COLLEGE 'PANTHERS' With just eight players on the roster it is helpful that they have multiple scoring options. One of those options is senior guard Adaku Anumu, one of the more prolific scorers in SLIAC history. Anumu has scored over 1,000 points in just two years with the Panthers, with 11 games over 30 points, and is averaging 18.4 points per game this season. As explosive as he is he has benefited from the additions of sophomore guard Micah Paulson (16.4 ppg) and Trevaughn Goodman (14.0 ppg). The Panthers also feature a big man, Justin Ball (10.8 ppg), and athletic forward Parker Davidson; who is just one of two players in the conference to average a double-double this season. |
|
Overall Record: 12-11 |
Coaches Corner with Todd Zimmerman Can you talk a little about how the team has played down the stretch winning seven of eight games? "Anumu and Goodman are dynamite scorers. Even more helpful is the fact that they complement each other well. Anumu is a knock down shooter and Goodman is an attacker. Goodman has really come on in the last month of the season to give our team an added driving threat that was not always there. When they are both on, they are tough to stop." |
WEBSTER UNIVERSITY 'GORLOKS' With Ward out the Gorloks have seen the emergence of forward Evan Milligan. Milligan is averaging 15.1 points per game since Ward's departure including leading Webster in scoring in each of the last five games. Senior CJ Moore and Xavier Dortch anchor the Gorloks guard play. Moore is a slasher, averaging 12.3 points per game while shooting 50-percent from the field and Dortch can knock down the long range shot, averaging 11.7 points per game with a team high 60 three-pointers this season. |
|
Overall Record: 14-11 |
Coaches Corner with Chris Bunch Can you talk about the loss of Hunter mid-way through the season. Your team responded immediately after the loss by winning six of seven games. How was the team able to overcome the loss? Can you talk about Evan Milligan's development this season. He doubled his scoring output from last year as a freshman and is one of the top inside players in the conference. |
WESTMINSTER COLLEGE 'BLUE JAYS' The Blue Jays are a ball control team with sophomore guard Carter Wands taking on that task. Wands averages just 6.7 points per game but hands out 3.1 assists per game and ranks 4th in the conference in assist to turnover ratio. Fellow guard Tanner Cochran also helps handle the pressure and averages 6.4 points per game while leading the team with 40 steals this year. |
|
|
Coaches Corner with Matt Mitchell You are the defending tournament champion, can you talk about how the run last year has prepared you for this year? Your team is constantly among the best at protecting the ball (fewest turnovers). Can you talk about the importance and emphasis you place on that and why it is critical to success? |
Tournament Tidbits
- This is just the second time since joining the SLIAC that Greenville has reached the 20 win mark for the season. The only other time was in 1995-96 when they went 21-8 and was also the only other season they won an outright regular season conference title.
- This is the 11th time Principia has made the tournament but just the second time since the conference narrowed it down to a four team field.
- Webster is returning to the tournament after missing out on the postseason last year. This means that Webster has never missed the tournament in back to back seasons.
- Westminster has the most tournament wins in conference history, having won 18 games over their previous 17 trips.
- Greenville has one SLIAC Tournament title, coming in the 1998 tournament as a #5 seed.
- Principia's 12 wins this season are the program's most since the 2002-03 season and two more wins would give them their most in a season since joining the SLIAC.
- Webster is tied for the most tournament appearances in conference history with 18 trips to the postseason.
- Westminster will be looking to become the first repeat tournament champion since Fontbonne University won three consecutive from 2007-09.
- Did you know that the top seed of the tournament has not won the title in any of the last three seasons?
is your game plan to slow them down and come away with a win?
“They are playing very well with a tremendous senior leadership. They are the
o You’ve made the tournament the past 5 years, which are the only 5 years Eureka College
has ever made the tournament. What do you need to do to come up with the first
tournament championship in the history of the program?
“We need to show up and build our confidence. At the end of the day we are all
o You were 2-7 to start the season and are clicking at the right time. How do you carry
that momentum over into the post-season?
“We need so things to break our way early to build some confidence. That’s
number one seed for a reason and we need to get it going early.”
0-0 coming into the tournament.”
what helped us turn it around this year. We’ve been knocked back a little bit
and if we can get it started early, we can get something going.”