EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- Cameron Adams scored a career-high 32 points and top seed Drury defeated No. 8 seed Illinois Springfield 72-64 in a Deaconess Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship quarterfinal game Friday afternoon at the Ford Center.
Adams hit 11 of 12 shots and eclipsed his previous best of 28 points earlier this season at Truman State to lift the defending national champion Panthers to a 25-2 overall mark and into Saturday's 6 p.m. semifinal against fifth-seed Southern Indiana. The Screaming Eagles defeated No. 4 seed Lewis 92-74 in Friday's first quarterfinal.
The nationally fourth-ranked Panthers played almost a mirror game of their 66-59 win at UIS on Feb. 8, when they were never really in serious danger of losing, but simply couldn't shake the stubborn Prairie Stars (10-18), who advanced by knocking off Truman State last Sunday.
Adams led four Panthers in double-figures. Kameron Bundy had 11 points and seven rebounds, while Ian Carter and Lonnie Boga scored 10 points each.
No. 1 Metro State 77, Fort Lewis 73
DENVER -- Top-ranked Metro State held off a late Fort Lewis run, winning 77-73 to advance to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Shootout championship game on Friday night at home. The Roadrunners improved to 27-1 overall with their 24th consecutive win, while FLC fell to 18-10. The 24-game winning streak is the second-longest in school history.
Metro State will face UC-Colorado Springs at 7 p.m. at the Auraria Event Center on Saturday in the championship game.
Brandon Jefferson hit 6 of 7 3-point field goals to score a game-high 20 points. Nicholas Kay matched Jefferson with 20 points, scoring 9 of 15 shots. Mitch McCarron just missed a triple-double with 12 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Jamal McClerkin also had 12 points, while Raul Delgado chipped in with seven off the bench.
For the game, both teams shot 50 percent from the floor, but MSU Denver won the turnover battle 8-to-15.
Alex Herrera led the Skyhawks with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Nick Tomsick scored all 17 of his points in the second half.
No. 3 West Liberty 107, Notre Dame (Ohio) 86
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- West Liberty shot 60 percent from the floor and drained 13 3-pointers Friday night in racing away to a 107-86 victory against Notre Dame (OH) in a Mountain East Conference tournament quarterfinal at the Civic Center Coliseum.
Coach Jim Crutchfield's Hilltoppers (25-2) advanced to Saturday's semifinal against the winner of Friday's late semifinal between Fairmont State (19-9) and West Virginia Wesleyan (20-11).
The Falcons (11-19) had shocked West Liberty 89-87 at the ASRC on Jan. 30 but the Hilltoppers wasted little time putting Friday's rematch in the bank.
Notre Dame took its only lead of the game 5-4 on a pair of Lawrence DeArmond free throws at 17:09 of the opening half but Shawn Dyer put WLU ahead to stay with a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession and the Black and Gold was on its way.
No. 5 Tarleton State 84, Texas A&M-Commerce 72
ALLEN, Texas -- Six days after losing sole possession of the LSC Championship and the No. 1 regional ranking with a tough loss to Texas A&M-Commerce, Tarleton State avenged that loss Friday night with an 84-72 win against the Lions in the semifinal round of the LSC Championship.
Tarleton (26-2) becomes the first team in LSC history to make the conference tournament final five consecutive years. The defending-champion Texans used a 16-6 run to open the second half and outscored the Lions 47-32 in the second half to pull away.
For the third consecutive year, and fourth time in five seasons, the Texans will face Midwestern State in the final round. Tarleton and MSU (22-6) split the season-series with each team winning on the road.
Texans improved from the field, hitting 54.5 percent of their shots. De'Andre Upchurch scored 25 points while Chuck Guy just missed a double-double with 19 points and nine assists. Guy made 7 of 9 free-throw attempts, giving him 156 this season, a new Texan record surpassing Roderick Brown's 154 in 1989-90. Guy also moved to fifth in school history with 167 assists.
Tashawn Mabry, plagued by foul trouble all night, scored 11 points in just 15 minutes.
The Lions had three players in double figures, led by LaDon Carnegie and Kameron Price each scored 14 points. Tyrie Wooten had 12 points. Carnegie, an All-LSC first-team pick, did have seven of the Lions' 14 turnovers.
No. 7 South Carolina-Aiken 69, Columbus State 64
COLUMBUS, Ga. -- South Carolina-Aiken traveled to Columbus State, which is hosting the PBC tournament, and knocked off the Cougars by a 69-64 count to earn a spot in the PBC semifinals.
The Pacers are now 27-3 on the season.
First-team all-conference selection DeVontae Wright poured in a game-high 23 points, including an 11 of 12 effort from the foul line, to push USC Aiken to the victory. His hanging baseline jumper and ensuing foul shot on the three-point play gave head coach Vince Alexander's a three-point lead -- and it was one the squad would not relinquish. For the game, Wright also distributed a game-high seven assists.
Second-team all-league honoree Paul Larsen notched a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds despite constantly being double teamed while Jesse Seilern contributed 10.
Colorado-Colorado Springs 75, No. 9 Colorado Mines 70
DENVER, Colo. -- Colorado-Colorado Springs used a 15-2 run to close out the game and advance to its first RMAC Shootout Championship game in program history with a 75-70 victory against Colorado Mines at the Auraria Events Center. UCCS will play Metro State on Saturday night.
Derrick White surpassed 1,000 career points and broke the UCCS single-season scoring record with a game-high 21 points. He now has 1,008 career points and 568 points this season. Alex Welsh scored 16 points and shot seven-of-10 from the field.
UCCS has won 12 of its past 13 games and continues to build upon its program record with the 21st win of the season. The win for the Mountain Lions against the team ranked fourth in the region should increase the chances of a selection to the NCAA postseason when the field is announced late Sunday night.
