PHOTO GALLERY || BARTLESVILLE, Okla. – Top-seeded East Central knocked out Henderson State, 96-73, in Thursday’s final Great American Conference Men’s Basketball Championship quarterfinal contest from Bruin Fieldhouse by making 14 of its final 15 shots to turn a two-point lead into a 23-point victory
With the Tigers (22-7) in front 59-57, the Reddies (16-13) worked the ball to Kaylon Tappin for an open 3-point try for the lead. The attempt missed, however, and the ensuing Tiger possession resulted in two ECU free throws that jump-started a 37-16 run that closed out the contest. GAC Player of the Year Braxton Reeves scored eight of his 22 points during the burst and KD Moore contributed eight of his 10 points.
Reeves added eight assists against no turnovers. Brett Cannon, who scored a game-high 23 points, added seven assists as part of a 22-9 assist-to-turnover ratio on the night for the Tigers. Cannon hit 8-of-11 shots in turning in a career-high scoring performance. Reeves established the GAC’s single-season scoring record as he increased his total to 647 points, 13 clear of former Arkansas Tech All-American Johnie Davis’ 2011-12 total.
Donovan Halsel added 17 points and connected on five 3-pointers. In six career GAC Championship games, Halsel, who as averaged 6.2 points per game for his career, has increased that average to 13.2 points while making 62.2 percent from the field and 61.7 percent from the 3-point arc on 34 attempts.
Ben Marello and Matt Panaggio led the Reddies, who completed their best season since 2011-12 when they went 16-11. Marello totaled 21 points and Panaggio recoreded a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
East Central, the No. 3 team in the recent NCAA Division II Central Region rankings will take on the winner of Friday’s Southern Nazarene-Ouachita contest in Saturday’s opening men’s semifinal, set for 5:45 PM on GACSportsNetwork.com. The Tigers split their two regular-season contests with both the Crimson Storm and the other Tigers.