Savannah, Georgia-For the second consecutive year, the Edward Waters men's basketball squad will appear in the quarterfinal round of the Cricket SIAC Basketball Championships. The #5 seed out of the East earned their spot in the conference's Elite Eight, thanks to their 66-62 upset victory over West Division #3 seed Spring Hill Wednesday evening at Tiger Arena.

Edward Waters (12-17, 9-11) had to contend with one of the SIAC's most potent squads from beyond the arc in Spring Hill (14-13, 11-9 SIAC) as coming into the tournament, the Badgers were fifth in three-point percentage and second in three-pointers made. In their first meeting in Jacksonville over the Winter Break, Spring Hill knocked off Edward Waters 103-85 and shot 47% from three-point range. On Tuesday, Edward Waters had a more concerted effort to defend the three-point line, holding the Badgers to just 20% shooting.

The Tigers opened things up leading by four approaching the midway point of the half.  The Badgers halved the advantage at the eight minute mark, but Edward Waters then went on a 6-0 run to push the lead out to their largest of the game at 28-20 with 5:28 remaining in the half. Edward Waters took a six point, 33-27 lead into the locker room.

Knowing that Spring Hill was capable of making a run, head coach Cabral Huff implored his team to be active on the boards and continue to defend beyond the arc. With Edward Waters leading by five with 16:42 remaining in the second half, Spring Hill went on a run to cut the Tiger lead to one at 39-38 with just over 15 minutes remaining. The Badgers later took the lead at 50-49 with 9:29 remaining and added to their advantage, leading by five with just over six minutes remaining. EWU was able to claw their way back to tie the contest at 56-56 with 3:58 remaining and a Kristian Ford three-pointer gave the Purple & Orange the lead right back at 59-56 with 2:28 left. Spring Hill later tied the contest up at 62-62 with :35 remaining, but Trevino Glover knocked down what would end up being the biggest shot of the game on a three-pointer that gave EWU the lead right back at 65-62 with :25 left. EWU would knock down a free throw and run out the clock, to take the upset win over the Badgers and move on in the tournament.

Edward Waters was dominant on the boards, turning in a season high 51 rebounds, with 19 being offensive that resulted in 15 second chance points. As a team, the Tigers shot  37% from the floor on 25-67 shooting and were 8-20 from beyond the arc at 40%. Spring Hill shot 32% from the floor on 22-67 shooting and were just 6-29 from three-point range.

Trevino Glover led the Tigers efforts with 13 points off of the bench on 4-9 shooting and was also 3-6 from three-point range. Goliath Mitchell and R. J. Noord each turned in 11 points for the Tigers in a victorious effort. 

Edward Waters advances to meet East Division #2 seed Morehouse on Friday evening at 7:30pm with the contest again being aired live on ESPN+.

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