The Sun Conference Tournament Semifinals
Score: No. 21 Keiser 77, St. Thomas 84
Records: No. 21 Keiser (22-7, 14-4 TSC), St. Thomas (22-5, 13-5 TSC)
Location: The Furnace, Lakeland, Fla.

No. 21 Keiser bowed out of the Sun Conference Tournament with a defeat at the hands of the tournament's No. 3 seed, the St. Thomas Bobcats.




No. 21 Keiser 38, St. Thomas 43 

• Mark Gordon got postseason play started with a midrange jumper on the Seahawks opening possession.
• The lead changed hands on five occasions in the early going as the Bobcats held a narrow 13-10 advantage at the game's first media timeout with 14:12 on the clock.
• Keiser then used a 6-0 run to go in front 16-13, capped off by a Jermar Perkins three-pointer from the left wing at the 12:41 mark.
• St. Thomas responded with eight consecutive points to establish a 22-16 lead, forcing a Keiser timeout nearing the half's midway point.
• The Bobcats extended their lead to the largest of the half, 28-20, with 7:16 remaining in the half.
• Five straight points from Gordon drew the Seahawks to within three as the forward sunk his first three-pointer of the contest at the 6:15 mark.
• Keiser was unable to tie or retake the lead though as STU remained in front, 34-28,  as the clock dwindled just under four minutes to play in the half.
• A 7-2 spurt from the Seahawks brought KU to within a single point, 36-35, after Jimmy Sylvain picked up a steal and dunk in transition and Gordon earned an old-fashioned three-point play with 2:45 on the clock.
• However, the Bobcats scored seven of the game's next eight points to push the score to 43-36 as the clock went under a minute.
• Marko Orlic's layup accounted for the half's final basket as STU held the 43-38 lead after shooting 19-of-30 (63.3 percent) from the floor.
• The Bobcats' attack was spearheaded by Justin Brown, who amassed 24 points on 10-of-11 shooting. Gordon produced 14 points to lead the way for KU.

No. 21 Keiser 77, St. Thomas 84

• Gordon started the second half scoring with a slam, but the Bobcats netted the next four points to lead 47-40 with 18:37 remaining.
• The Seahawks chipped into their deficit with a 6-2 run to make it a single-possession game, 49-46, at the 17:18 mark.
• Keiser was held scoreless for the next 3:45 of play as the Bobcats' lead swelled to 58-46 on the strength of a 9-0 run.
• The St. Thomas lead eventually reached as large as 16 points, 67-51, with 10:14 showing on the scoreboard.
• The Bobcats kept the margin at double-digits until Orlic converted from beyond the arc to get within, 77-68 with just 4:33 left to play.
• After trading buckets, Keiser tallied six straight points to bring themselves to within four points, 81-77. The run was capped off by another basket from Gordon in transition with just 55 seconds left to play.
• Keiser was forced to play the foul game, and St. Thomas split a pair of free-throws to lead 82-77. 
• The Seahawks turned the ball over on the ensuing possession, and were forced to foul once again.
• Ahmad Gilbert hit both from the line for the Bobcats to make it 84-77 with 37 seconds remaining,
• Two desperate three-point attempts in the final possessions went awry for Keiser, as the Seahawks bowed out of the Sun Conference Tournament with the 84-77 defeat to the Bobcats, who were led by Brown (32 points) and Gilbert (30 points).

• 4: Four Seahawks were in double-digit scoring: Gordon (24), Malcolm Mabry (13), Jimmy Sylvain (13), and Orlic (11).
• 9: Mabry snagged a game-high nine rebounds.
• 22-27: Keiser was efficient from the free-throw line in defeat, sinking 22-of-27 attempts.  
• 23-4: The Keiser bench outproduced St. Thomas 23-4.
• 38-33: The edge in the rebounding battle went to Keiser, 38-33.

No. 21 Keiser

• PTS: Gordon, 24
• REB: Mabry, 9
• A: Mabry, 3
• STL: Mabry, 2
• BLK: Orlic, 1

St. Thomas

• PTS: Brown, 32
• REB: Gilbert, 8 
• A: Brown/Adderley, 2
• STL: Gilbert, 5
• BLK: Strawter, 2

No. 21 Keiser will now await their fate for the upcoming NAIA National Tournament. Keiser can earn an automatic bid into the tournament with a Southeastern victory over St. Thomas in the Sun Conference Tournament Championship tomorrow night. If St. Thomas wins, the Seahawks will have to wait until the bracket reveal, which will take place on Wednesday, March 4 at 6:00 p.m. ET.