Pair of wins, including thriller in semifinals, put Boise State in Caymans title game

The Boise State men’s basketball team won a semifinal nail-biter over South Dakota State on Monday to advance to the Cayman Islands Classic championship game.

The Broncos’ 83-82 win over the Jackrabbits put them in Tuesday’s title game in the Caribbean against the winner of Monday evening’s Missouri State-Boston College game. Tipoff for the final will be 5:30 p.m. Mountain time, with the game streaming on FloCollege.

The semifinal victory for Boise State (5-1) was the Javan Buchanan show. The reserve forward, a 6-foot-7 transfer from NAIA Indiana Wesleyan, came off the bench to pour in 28 points on 11-of-17 shooting. He made 4-of-8 3-pointers, and he also made the game-winning shot and grabbed the game’s key rebound.

With the score tied at 81 in what was a back-and-forth game, Buchanan hit a jumper off a feed from point guard Alvaro Cardenas, one of his seven assists, to give the Broncos an 83-81 lead with 1:03 remaining. After empty possessions from both teams, South Dakota State’s Owen Larson was fouled with one second left attempting a game-tying shot. Larson made the first but missed the second, and Buchanan grabbed the board.

Cardenas finished with 16 points for Boise State, reserve Julian Bowie had 13 and forward Tyson Degenhart scored 11. The Broncos made 12-of-29 3-pointers and went 13-for-14 from the free throw line.

Joe Sayler and Oscar Cluff each scored 19 points for the Jackrabbits (5-2).

Boise State advanced to its meeting with South Dakota State by beating Hampton 83-69 in the first round Sunday in a game they led by as many as 23 points. Degenhart scored 25 points and O’Mar Stanley 13 for the Broncos, whose next game after this tourney is at home vs. Utah Tech on Tuesday, Dec. 3.