The Salem Wildcats had a rollercoaster of a day on Saturday at the Salem Invitational Tournament. They opened up with a 61-36 win over Charleston using a 23-0 run in the first half to take control of the game. Salem hit 10 three pointers on 28 attempts. Noah Nix led Salem with 13, Kaeden Bevolo added 11 with 9 from Ryegan Warren and 8 points from Ayden Rose and 7 more from Avery Gullion.
The Wildcats then lost more than the game to Carbondale in the consolation finals, but lost one of their leading scorers and rebounders in Noah Nix to a left shoulder injury. It happened late in the first half, and he was taken immediately to the hospital for evaluation. It appears Nix escaped serious injury but will miss some time. Salem dropped their game to Carbondale 51-29. The Cats led 10-9 after the first quarter and trailed just 21-19 at half, but were outscored 30-10 in the second half. Warren led Salem with 10 and Rose added 9.
Charleston won the 7th place game, knocking off Apollo Conference rival Effingham 52-42.
