#1 Theo Pinson scored 14 points and grabbed 8 rebounds in Wesleyan Christian's 56-50 victory against Upper Room Christian in the semifinals of the Summit Hospitality bracket of the 2011 HighSchoolOT.com Invitational Basketball Tournament in Raleigh on Friday, Dec. 29 (photo by Will Okun).
Dec 30, 2011
In its first appearance in the HighSchoolOT.com Holiday Invitational, High Point Wesleyan will be playing for the Summit Hospitality championship.
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Wesleyan defeated Raleigh Upper Room and its star forward, Rodney Purvis, 56-50 in the Summit semifinals Thursday night.
"These kids have worked so hard in the offseason, lifting and conditioning," Wesleyan coach Keith Gatlin said. "This is a great accomplishment for us, being a little Christian school."
The victory was a result of the play of Wesleyan's big three of Montay Brandon (21 points, seven rebounds), Theo Pinson (14 points, eight rebounds) and Jaquel Richmond (12 points, three assists).
Wesleyan shut down Purvis, holding the N.C. State recruit to 13 points on 5-of-15 shooting.
"The kids did an outstanding job staying on Rodney's right hand, making him go to his left," Gatlin said. "We have the utmost respect for him, but we were determined not to let him beat us tonight -- someone else was going to have to beat us."
Upper Room was led by Purvis' 13 points -- he was the only Christian Eagle in double figures in scoring.
"It's disappointing for us tonight," Christian Eagle coach Avie Lester said. "Our kids have real high expectations; I was real prayerful for them that we'd be able to come out on top."
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