For a while on Saturday night at the DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven, Miss., it felt like the best competition for Arkansas Tech’s Jeremy Dunbar and Johnie Davis was trying to out-do each other.
Dunbar (photographed, top right) and Davis (photographed, bottom right) both had career nights to carry the nationally 13th-ranked Wonder Boys to an 82-64 win over the Valdosta State Blazers in the semifinal round of the Gulf South Conference Tournament.
The Wonder Boys (24-4) will try to become just the second program in the 40-year history of the Gulf South Conference to win three consecutive GSC Tournament titles in men’s basketball when they face nationally 17th-ranked Harding (24-4) at 4 p.m. Sunday.
Harding made it to the final with an 82-51 victory over nationally fourth-ranked Alabama-Huntsville on Saturday night.
Dunbar netted a career-high 31 points, while Davis scored a career-high 28 points for Tech in its semifinal win. Dunbar was 12-of-20 from the field, including 4-of-10 from 3-point range. Davis hit 11-of-20 from the field, including 5-of-10 from beyond the arc.
Dunbar’s second 3-pointer of the night gave Arkansas Tech the lead for good and ignited a 16-0 Wonder Boys’ run. Davis closed the spurt with a jumper at the 14:17 mark to give Tech a 19-3 edge.
It was never close after that. Valdosta State got within 31-21, but back-to-back 3-pointers from Davis restored order for the Wonder Boys. Tech led 46-31 at halftime.
Davis kept it up with consecutive treys to start the second half. The Wonder Boys put it away with an 10-0 run over a span of 4:08 that made it 71-44 with 8:50 to go.
James Giles had 10 points and 10 rebounds for Arkansas Tech for his first career double-double. Laithe Massey contributed nine points, six rebounds, eight assists and six steals for the Wonder Boys. Massey moved into sole possession of second place on Tech’s all-time career steals list.
James Causey added four points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals for an Arkansas Tech team that received all 82 points from its starters.
Will Alston led Valdosta State (21-9) with 13 points.
Sunday’s GSC Tournament championship games will be broadcast in the Arkansas River Valley by KWKK 100.9 FM.
Click here to access an Internet stream of the broadcast.
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