After cruising through the quarterfinal and the semifinal on Thursday and Friday, TBC Eagle's JV Men's Basketball will compete for the 2023 Bible College National Invitational Tournament Championship on Saturday. The Eagles disposed of Patrick Henry College 90-56 on Thursday then won easily over Word of Life Bible Institute 87-49 in Friday's semifinal.

The Eagles will play on Saturday evening for the title.

Thursday: TBC 90, Patrick Henry 56

Brandon Hill (16), Diego Fernandez (15), Gavin Korth-Loder (12), and Robbie Simmons (12) all scored in double digits, and Ethan Elliott had 9 in leading the Eagles to the quarterfinal victory. 

The Eagles scored the game's first 8 points and quickly built an 18-5 lead just 8 minutes in. They never trailed at any point and gradually built the lead to 49-26 at the half. They kept up the pressure throughout the second half and outscored PHC 41-30 in the final 20 minutes. 

Friday: TBC 87, Word of Life 49

Fernandez caught fire on Friday and added 21 more points to lead the Eagles in the semifinal match in which TBC trailed for only 60 seconds after Word of Life scored the first basket. Elliott tied the score with a finger roll after charging the full length of the court; then, Hill cut through four defenders to give the Eagles the lead for good just 2:08 into the game. From there, it was all TBC.

Fernandez was 9 for 13 from the field, including a pair of three-pointers, and 1 for 2 at the line to compile his game-high point total, and he assisted five other scores. Elliott buried all four three-point shots he took on route to 16 total points. Hill and Korth-Loder each scored 11, and Simmons had 7 while five other teammates all contributed between 3 and 6.

Ethan Elliott sank all four three-point shots in the semifinal.

Three-Point/Slam Dunk Contests

In the extra-curricular events on Thursday night, two Eagles who came up big in the games also came up big in the indivdual competitions. Fernandez won the three-point contest, and Elliott took second place in the slam dunk competition. 

Championship Game Saturday

The #2 seed TBC Eagles will battle a familiar foe when they face Trinity College of Florida in the championship game on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. EST. The top-seeded TFCL Tigers had a bye on Thursday and defeated The Crown College 89-69 in Friday's semifinal round.

The winner will bring home the banner for the 19th annual Bible College NIT, founded by TBC's own Coach Patrick Milligan.

Original source can be found here.