Knights Open Mideast Region Tournament with Strong Win
Grayson, KY – The Kentucky Christian University Knights saw their first action in the 2018 NCCAA Mideast Region men's basketball tournament on Thursday night and they came away with an impressive 23 point opening round win over the Boyce College Bulldogs … 92-69.
The old adage says that "it is hard to beat a team three times in the same season" and that is exactly what the Knights would have to do in order to advance to the region semi-finals. Leadership is something all coaches cherish especially at this time of year and that is exactly what they received from three seniors. On a night when Brandon Barnes tallied his 1,000th point, He, Hayden Dunn and Matthew Lee combined for 60 pts, 17 rebs and 22-34 (.647) from the field.
Dunn led all scorers with 27 pts on 11-16 shooting and added one three-pointer to go with eight rebounds. Barnes connected on 9-16 overall with a very healthy 5-10 from behind the arc and registered 26 total points for his night's work. Leading the way on the glass was Trenton Walker's nine boards and he also had six blocked shots, both team highs.
For the game, KCU shot a blistering .516 from the field and a very respectable .357 from the arc to go with an 18-23 night from the charity stripe (.783). The victory moved the #3 seeded Knights ahead in the bracket to face the #2 seeded Tigers of Grace Bible College (MI) in tomorrow's second semi-final tilt scheduled to tip at 8:00PM. On the other side of the bracket, the tournament's overall #1 seed, Johnson University Tennessee will take on #5 Great Lakes Christian College (MI). The GLCC Crusaders defeated the Flames of Welch College in the #4-#5 match-up earlier in the day.
Saturday's Mideast Region Championship will start at 2:00PM and will see the two survivors from Friday's semis as they attempt to punch their ticket to the national tournament. Come out and support the Knights.