Southwestern slipped past Civic Memorial 53-49 to move into the Gold Bracket championship game Monday night in the Freeburg Tourney against Columbia.
Briston Johnson and Tyler Rose had 16 points for the Piasa Birds. Collin Baumgartner had nine points.
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Jason Darr said Civic Memorial is a tall team that pressures the perimeter very well.
"This was a nine-point game with two minutes to go and we gave up two corner three-point shots late," he said. "But it was a good win.”
Civic Memorial was paced by Jakob Lowrance and David Lane in scoring. Lowrance had nine points and Lowrance had seven.
Darr said he expects Columbia to be an excellent opponent in the 8 p.m. game on Tuesday at Freeburg.
“Columbia is a very good basketball team and have a lot of weapons,” he said. “This is a great game for us.”
