Badgers End Rams' Cinderella Run

MOBILE, Ala—A 20-0 second-half run by the Spring Hill College Badgers ended Mobile’s Cinderella run in the 2009 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament Saturday evening at Spring Hill.

The Badgers prevailed 68-60 in the semifinal contest to advance to Tuesday’s GCAC Championship game at LSU-Shreveport, while Mobile’s season comes to a close with a 16-16 record.

Mobile controlled the opening half thanks to 21 points from Treii Pace and Donte Walker. Despite Mobile starting 1-for-6 from behind the three-point line, Pace tallied 9 early points to give Mobile a 16-9 lead with 12:22 remaining. The Badgers cut the lead to 16-13, but the Rams used a 14-5 run to take the half’s largest lead at 30-18 thanks to a steal and bucket from Walker, who finished with 10 points over the final 9:13 of the half.

The Badgers then started pounding the ball inside and were able to cut the lead to 35-27 at the break. Mobile out shot Spring Hill 45% to 38% in the half but struggled to 3-of-14 from three-point range and 4-of-9 from the charity stripe.

The final half was a different story as Marcus Coleman and his Badger teammates stepped up with an impressive rally. After the teams traded buckets to place Mobile ahead 39-30, the Badgers rolled off the next 20 points to take a commanding 50-39 lead. Coleman tallied 11 points in the run and capped it with back-to-back three balls.

Matthew Turner finally stopped the bleeding with a jumper at the 10:55 mark to cut it to 50-41. A pair of Brock Dockery freebies brought the deficit down to 7, but the Badgers had an answer every time Mobile tried to rally and the Rams never got closer than 7 points.

Nick Brown was big inside down the stretch for the home team, finishing with 8 points over the final five minutes plus, including 6-of-6 from the charity stripe. Spring Hill sank 13-of-16 from the line as a team to close the deal, while Marcus Coleman finished with a game-high 20 points.