Friday, April 25

Game 7:  First Merit 108, Premier Pontiac 81

Jeff Ferguson of Pikeville scored 26 points to lead seven players in double figures as First Merit moved to the championship game of the 2008 Collegiate Basketball Invitational with a 108-81 win over Premier Pontiac Friday, April 25.

First Merit will now play the winner of game eight at 8 p.m. Friday in the CBI Championship. Premier Pontiac will play the loser of game eight between Louis Perry & Associates-City of Wadsworth in the third-place game at 6 p.m. Friday.

Ferguson, 11-for-15 from the field, scored 16 of his 26 points in the first-half as First Merit used a 17-7 spurt in the first-half to break-open a 27-27 tie en route to a eight-point halftime lead at 54-46. Also scoring in double figures for First Merit was Othyus Jeffers of Robert Morris (Ill.), Charlie Parker of Millersville and Jeremy Weddle
of Lambuth scoring 15 points each, while Gus Chase of Georgetown (Ky.) added 13 points. Steve Dagostino added 13 points and eight assists with Norman Plummer of Southern Indiana contributing with 10 points.

Leading the way for Premier Pontiac was Jeremy Black of Tampa with 19 points, while Ron Banks of California (Pa.) added 15 in the loss. Sam Belt of Central Oklahoma added 10 points and Jerome Pierce of Notre Dame (Ohio) just missed a double-double with 10 points and nine assists. Chad Schuiteman of Northwestern (Iowa) grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

Game 8: Louis Perry & Associates 106, City of Wadsworth 95

Matt Hall of Harding scored 23 points as Louis Perry & Associates placed five players in double figures to advance to the championship game of the 2008 Collegiate Basketball Invitational with a 106-95 win over City of Wadsworth Friday, April 25.

Louis Perry & Associates will now play First Merit at 8 p.m. Friday in the CBI Championship. City of Wadsworth will play Premier Pontiac in the third-place game at 6 p.m. Friday.

Also scoring in double figures for Louis Perry & Associates was Sean Barnette of Wingate with 19, Corey McIntosh of Augustana (S.D.) with 18 points, while Marcus Hubbard of Angelo State added 15 and Jason Jamerson of Grand Valley State chipped in with 14 points.

Leading the way for City of Wadsworth was Michael Sturns of Holy Family with 19 points. Corey Abercrombie of Pittsburg State scored 17 points and pulled down nine rebounds in the loss.  Scott O'Gallagher of Warner Pacific chipped in with 16 points and Robert Lee of West Texas A&M pumped in 14 points and grabbed nine boards.

7th Place Game: Galaxy 94, Wadsworth Rittman Hospital 83

Adron Marshall of Mountain State scored 17 of his 21 points in the second-half to help Galaxy overcome a 23-point halftime deficit to defeat Wadsworth-Rittman Hospital 94-83 to claim seventh-place in the 2008 Collegiate Basketball Invitational Friday, April 25.

Falling behind 54-31 at halftime, Galaxy outscored Wadsworth-Rittman Hospital 63-29 in the second-half, which included a 21-4 spurt in the first five minutes of second stanza to shrink the deficit. A big key for the comeback was Galaxy's ability to limit the Wadsworth-Rittman Hospital's three-point shooting as WRH connected on 10-14 in the
first-half, but only 2-9 in second-half.

Oklahoma City's Kameron Gray also poured in 21 points, while Callistus Eziukwu of Grand Valley State continued to be the chairman of the boards as he had his second double-double of the tournament with 16 points and 11 rebounds. In three games, Eziukwu set two tournament records with 36 rebounds and per-game average of 12 boards. Troy Ruths of Washington (Mo.) finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.

Leading the way for Wadsworth-Rittman Hospital was Avery Patterson of Tarleton State with 25 points, 19 coming in the first-half as he hit 5-7 treys. James Cooper of Wooster added 13 points, while Devario Hudson of Valdosta State and Atila Santos of Minnesota State-Mankato contributed double-doubles in the loss. Hudson finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds and Santos scored 11 points to go along with 10 rebounds. 

5th Place Game:  Renacci-Doraty Chevrolet 125, MBM Logistechs 99

Anthony Williams of Plattsburgh St. scored a CBI Tournament single-game record 34 points and DeAndre Townsend also made history with his 17 assists as Renacci-Doraty Chevrolet cruised to a
125-99 win over MBM Logistechs to win the fifth-place game in the 2008 Collegiate Basketball Invitational Friday, April 25.

Williams only missed two of his 14 attempts in his record breaking game as he hit 4-5 from behind the three-point line. Townsend used his record single game-high 17 assists in the win to give him also the tournament record of 33. Others scoring in double figures were Brad Harris of Lee with 19, Collins Harris of Drury with 17, Tramaine Stevens of Florida Memorial with 15, Marko Kolaric of Chaminade with 14 and Brian Monahan of St. Michael's with 12 points.

Leading the way for MBM Logistechs was Ben Strong of Guilford with 21, while Josh Porter of Louisiana State-Shreveport added 19. Brad Byerson of Virginia Union pumped in 14 points and pulled down seven rebounds with Texas A&M-Commerce's Scooby Johnson posting 12 points and seven rebounds with Wille Irick adding 12 points as well.