By Nicholas Kolsin
The Braves Men’s basketball team defeated the King University Tornado 90-74 in the Conference Carolinas Tournament Semi-Finals to advance to the tournament finals.
The leading scorer for the Braves was JaJuan Carr with 26 points. Bradlee Haskell was efficent getting to the line with 9 of his 16 points coming from the free throw line. Off the bench, Josh Berenbaum sparked for 16 points and 5 rebounds, including four threes.
The Braves ability to hot from deep was a catalyst for the win. They shot 47% (8-17) from three compared to the Tornado’s 19% (4-21). Fouls were an issue for the Braves with most of the team finishing with 2+ fouls, with Haskell, Cobb, and Kurtas finishing with 4 each, but nobody fouled out. These fouls lead to 35 free throw attempts for King compared to the Braves 23.
After being up 12 at halftime, the Tornados were able to storm all the way back into the game with a 21-10 run to start the half to cut the Braves lead to just one. The Braves responded with layups from Berenbaum and Carr to bring the lead back up to five, and another Berenbaum three made it eight.
Back to back baskets from Kings Pocknett cut the Braves lead down to four. After a Haskell free throw, four straight points from Kings Xavier Bentancourt cut the Braves lead to just one. A Pocknett layup and two free throws from Kings Jordan Akal gave King their first lead of the game.
The Braves rallied off an 8-0 run coming out of a timeout after that to take their lead back with force. These came from two Carr layups, free throws from Elijah Cobb and a layup from Quay Watson to make it a 71-64 game. After trading free throws until it was 73-67 Braves, Johnathon Kurtas got the ball at the edge of the paint, shook past a defender and slammed home the basket.
Coach Drew Richards talked about Kurtas’ physicality in the postgame saying “He provides such an important piece for us down low that we haven’t had in the past. When he plays and he’s locked in mentally, he’s a guy that contributes to the winning”
A Quay Watson and-one brought the Braves lead to 11 with 4:07 to play and the Braves never looked back from there. They would extend their lead all the way to 16 on a huge Dallas Gardner slam to cap off the game at 90-74 and secure a spot in the finals.
The Braves will be back in the Championship for the second year in a row against Emmanuel on Sunday at 4 p.m.