SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The fifth-seeded King University men's basketball team advanced to the semifinals of the Atlantic Casualty Conference Carolinas tournament with an 80-69 win over fourth-seeded Young Harris.
THE BASICS
FINAL: No. 5 King 80, no. 4 Young Harris 69
LOCATION: Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium; Spartanburg, S.C.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
- The Tornado took their first lead of the game with 17:23 to go when Jordan Akal hit a layup after grabbing an offensive rebound, putting King in front 6-5.
- Young Harris reached out to a 12-6 lead three minutes later, after which the Tornado scored four straight points, including a Mikhail Pocknett layup, followed by him making the ensuing free throw.
- Things started to shift with 7:33 left, when Xavier Betancourt hit a three to tie the game at 19, starting a 13-7 King scoring run that saw them take a 29-26 lead with just over three minutes left.
- The Tornado continued to pull away, with Petar Mijatovic hitting a jumper with 29 seconds left, sending King into the locker room with a 33-28 lead.
Second Half
- Young Harris scored the first seven points, taking a 35-33 lead just two minutes into the half.
- The Tornado regained the lead when Betancourt hit a three a short time later, followed quickly by Akal making a layup to make the score 40-37.
- The Tornado used that to start a run of 13 consecutive points, stretching the lead to 48-37 with 14:30 remaining.
- Young Harris started to close the gap, trimming the King lead to 59-52 with just over eight minutes to play.
- The Tornado were able to get the lead back to double digits off a Seth Cullen bucket, followed by a three from Jalen Royster.
- Young Harris got to within three with four minutes to play, but the Tornado were able to hit their free throws in the closing minutes, taking the 80-69 victory.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Pocknett led all players, scoring 20 points and pulling nine rebounds.
- Cullen finished with a double-double, scoring 12 points and pulling 10 rebounds while Xavier Betancourt had 18 points, Akal had 12 and Royster finished with 11.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- This is the first trip to the conference semifinals for King since the 2019-20 season, and just the third trip to the semifinals since joining the conference in 2011.
FOR THE FOES
- Karl Chavis led the Mountain Lions with 18 points, followed by 17 from Carl Cleveland.
- Cleveland and Morgan Rashed both had a team-high seven rebounds.
UP NEXT
- The Tornado advance to face top-seeded UNC Pembroke Saturday at 5:15 p.m. at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium.
