Tuskegee and Morehouse will have the ultimate rubber match in the SIAC Men’s Basketball championship game after both teams punched their tickets with dominant semifinal victories.
The Golden Tigers solidified their spot in the title game with an emphatic 70-53 win over the Clark Atlanta Panthers.
Tuskegee blitzed Clark Atlanta from the opening tip, outscoring them 12-2 in the first six minutes, getting and keeping the lead for the remainder of the contest.
Clark Atlanta showed signs of fight, responding with a 12-4 run of its own to trim the lead to two with 11:02 left in the first half, but a cold spell to end the first half found them down by 20 at halftime.
They missed nine of their last 10 field-goal attempts in the first half and never recovered, trailing by as many as 22 points in the second half.
SIAC Player of the Year Kusamae Draper led the team with 20 points on 50% shooting, adding six rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
RJ Walker and Anthony Wright each scored 17 points, with the latter grabbing 11 rebounds, including six offensive boards.
Meanwhile, Morehouse clinched its spot in the championship game with a 71-56 win over the Miles Golden Bears.
In a game that was evenly matched in the first half, the Maroon Tigers pulled away in the second half thanks to their superior depth.
Morehouse’s second unit was crucial to the team’s victory, nearly outscoring Miles’ entire team in the second half with 18 of the team’s 38 points (24 total by Miles).
In addition, they were not only able to take care of the ball, committing only six turnovers in the contest, but also used their defense to lead to easy baskets on the other end.
They forced 12 Golden Bear turnovers, leading to 22 points, while Miles was only able to get six points off Morehouse’s turnovers.
The Maroon Tigers finished the game on a 26-12 run in the final 9:25 of the contest to seal the win.
This sets up a rubber match between the conference rivals who have split their first two meetings this season.
In the first matchup, Tuskegee got the best of Morehouse 67-55 on its home floor, handing the Maroon Tigers their first conference loss of the season.
Their most recent meeting on January 31 saw Morehouse claim a 77-69 victory in a game that was marred by controversy.
This game was the infamous encounter in which Tuskegee head coach Benjy Taylor was detained by Morehouse security after a dispute involving Morehouse football players during the postgame handshake line.
Adding to the intrigue for this championship game is both teams looking to snap respective decade-long droughts without a conference title, with Tuskegee last winning in 2014 and Morehouse’s coming in 2003.
