KWC drops heartbreaker at buzzer
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Feb. 26—Jordan Roland recorded a game-best 26 points, eight rebounds and eight assists to lead a furious comeback for the Kentucky Wesleyan College men's basketball team, but Grant Whisman's tip-in at the buzzer lifted Cedarville to a 77-76 win over the Panthers in their regular-season finale Saturday in Cedarville, Ohio.
Wesleyan (15-13, 11-9 G-MAC), which trailed 41-28 at intermission, erased a 24-point first-half deficit to tie the game at 59-59 on an Antonio Thomas 3-pointer with 7:21 left to play.
Five ties and four lead changes later, Roland made a pair of foul shots to pull Wesleyan to within 75-74 with seven seconds remaining. Cedarville's Braden Sipple missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw, and Roland was again fouled on his way to the basket — and sank both free throws for a 76-75 lead with three seconds left.
Sipple missed the potential game-tying layup at the other end, but Whisman's tip-in sealed the victory as the Yellow Jackets () stormed the court in celebration.
Thomas finished with 21 points and five assists for KWC, while Ben Sisson produced 18 points and nine rebounds.
The Panthers shot 51% from the field, including 9-of-22 from 3-point range (40.9%), and converted 15-of-19 foul shots (78.9%) with 16 turnovers leading to 15 points.
Whisman paced Cedarville (18-10, 11-9) with 18 points and seven rebounds, and Jayvon Maughmer finished with 18 points. Chris Rogers added 16 points, and Jacob Drees had 15 points with 14 rebounds.
The Yellow Jackets shot 44.3% from the floor, 11-of-31 from beyond the arc (35.5%) and 12-of-16 at the free-throw line (75%) with 13 turnovers leading to 18 points.
Cedarville lost the rebounding battle, 32-31, but claimed a 16-11 edge in second-chance scoring. Wesleyan finished with the edge in paint scoring (32-28), fast-break points (7-5) and bench production (37-3).
Wesleyan, which began the day in a tie for fourth place and in position to host a first-round G-MAC tournament game, will instead finish with the No. 8 seed by virtue of tiebreaker. The Panthers will travel to face top-seeded Walsh (19-8, 16-4) on Tuesday in North Canton, Ohio. The win helped Cedarville secure the sixth seed.
KENTUCKY WESLEYAN 28 48 — 76
CEDARVILLE 41 36 — 77
Kentucky Wesleyan (76) — Roland 26, Thomas 21, Sisson 18, Mitchell 6, Boyd 4, Gray 1.
Cedarville (77) — Maughmer 18, Whisman 18, Rogers 16, Drees 15, Sipple 7, Dean 3.
