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CHICAGO – Chicago State men's basketball defeated Texas-Pan American 63-55 on Friday (March 15) in the Great West Conference Tournament Semifinals at the Jones Convocation Center. The win advances Chicago State to the 2013 GWC Championship on Saturday against Houston Baptist at 7:30 p.m. Saturday's game will air live on Lakeshore Public Television and WVON 1690 AM.
Friday's win is Chicago State's first conference tournament victory since advancing to the Mid-Continent Conference championship game in 2006. A win on Saturday by Chicago State over Houston Baptist would give Chicago State their first Division I championship in school history and the program's first postseason tournament berth. The GWC Tournament Champion earns an automatic bid to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.
The Cougars never trailed on Friday against the Broncs of UTPA. The game was tied just once, 16-16, in the first half. The closest UTPA advanced in the second half was four points at 32-28 five minutes into the stanza. The Broncs made some key 3-pointers in the final minutes to advance within 10 points but the Cougars held their composure at the free throw line down the stretch.
Chicago State forced 15 UTPA turnovers while committing just seven of their own. UTPA made just 13-of-36 attempts (36.1 percent) from the floor.
The Cougars were able to defeat UTPA after falling to them twice in the regular season. Now Chicago State will play a Houston Baptist team they defeated twice this year.
“Texas Pan Am did beat us twice but we don't want to be that team people say 'hey told you its hard to beat a team three times',” Chicago State head coach
Tracy Dildy said. “We have a goal to get rings, and the only way to do that is be victorious tomorrow night.”
The box score reflected Chicago State's balanced attack. GWC Newcomer of the Year junior
Nate Duhon (Lansing, Mich./Sexton) led Chicago State with 13 points while adding eight rebounds, four assists and two steals. Duhon was 9-of-11 from the free throw line.
Juniors
Jamere Dismukes (Park Forest, Ill./Rich East) and
Corey Gray (Houston, Texas/Hightower) each added nine points. Junior
Matt Ross (Dixon, Ill./Dixon) totaled eight points while grabbing 10 rebounds. Junior
Quinton Pippen (Hamburg, Ark./Hamburg) and sophomore
Clarke Rosenberg (Skokie, Ill./Evanston Township) also had eight points.
Saturday's championship game will start at 7:30 p.m. at the Jones Convocation Center. The women's championship between NJIT and Utah Valley will be played at 4 p.m.
UTPA ends their season 16-16. Chicago State improves to 10-21.
CSU Men's Basketball vs. UTPA (3/15/13) Gallery
