Henderson Surpasses 1000 Warner Career Points to lift Royals to 70-69 win
LAKE WALES, Fla. – In a showdown between the top two scorers in the conference, Derell Henderson netted 21 points to eclipse 1000 Warner career points and to lead no.3 seed Warner University men’s basketball to a 70-69 win over no.6 seed St. Thomas University in the opening round of The Sun Conference Tournament.
With the win, the Royals (20-9) picked up their third consecutive season of 20 or more wins.
Henderson registered his fifth consecutive game of 20 or more points but it was his rebounding prowess that proved to be the most beneficial, rebounding his own missed free throw with 11 seconds left in regulation which led to the game winning layup from Brennan Taylor with three seconds left, to erase the nine point hole in the second half.
The Royals took a 30-25 lead into the break, but with conference leading scorer Antonio Jones on their side, the Bobcats (11-16) were never out of the game. Jones scored 20 second-half points to finish with a game-high 30 points.
Scoring was at a premium in the second frame, with the Bobcats opening the half with a quick 5-0 run to knot the game at 30. The Royals responded with six unanswered points to take a 36-30 lead on two free-throws from Henderson. Not to be undone, the Bobcats went on a 15-0 tear, sparked by a three-pointer from Jones to take a 45-36 lead with 13:22 on the clock.
The Bobcats maintained the lead until the waning seconds of the half, but good free throw shooting from Henderson and the scoring touch from Brennan Taylor kept the Royals in the game. Taylor also had a career game, scoring a career high 21 points – by connecting on 6-of-14 shots and 3-of-8 from long distance while going a perfect 6-of-6 from the line.
The Bobcats held a six-point lead, 65-59 with 4:24 left on the clock but back-to-back buckets from Mirnes Islamovic’ pulled the Royals within two at the three minute mark. Islamovic’ also finished with double-digits, scoring 12 points in the game. Jones would go on to push the Bobcats cushion to five on two free throws with 33 ticks left in regulation.
David Westberry, who was 0-for-3 from behind the arc and 1-for-6 from the floor came up clutch for Warner, grabbing a long rebound off a missed three and nailing a three pointer with 22 seconds left in the game to pull the Royals within two, 69-67.
On the ensuing possession, the Bobcats missed a free throw and Henderson grabbed the rebound and drew a foul. Henderson hit the first free throw and missed the second but was able to corral the rebound and dish it to Taylor for the late game heroics.
The Bobcats were able to get a last second attempt to win the game but the shot bounced off the rim.
Saint Thomas also received double-digit scoring from Jerell Coakley and Tracey Razz who scored 11 points apiece.
The Royals will now travel to Daytona Beach, Fla. to take on 11th ranked and no. 2 seed Northwood University in the Sun Conference Tournament Final Four. The game is scheduled for a 5 p.m. start in the ICI Center Friday afternoon.