CSCC BASKETBALL VS. CHATTANOOGA STATE (12-8-12)

By BRYAN GRISHAM

CSCC Sports Information

CHATTANOOGA - Another chapter in the heated rivalry between Cleveland State and Chattanooga State was written on Saturday afternoon as they managed to split their Region VII Conference games. The Lady Coguars took care of business in the ladies contest with a 63-48 win over the Lady Tigers while the Tigers took the men's game by a final score of 85-79.

Daijon Williams knocked down four long range bombs in the first half for the Tigers as the teams traded buckets for much of the first half as the largest lead by either team was five points.

Tre Everette knocked down a trey for the Cougars and Ralph Eason added a pair of driving layups but Williams rained down two more threes as he teamed with Nick Ross' 13 first half points to give the home team a 40-36 lead at the break.

The game stayed close throughout the second half as the intensity level climbed rapidly. Two

layups and a three-pointer by Filipe Goncalves and two more buckets in the paint from Trey Suttles gave the Cougars the lead one more time with eight minutes to play at 69-67.

Three more long range bombs by Williams combined with several clutch baskets from Ross and seven free tosses from Demetrius Kitchens would be too much for the Cougars to overcome as the Tigers held on for the win.

Suttles paced the Cougars (10-3, 5-2)with 23 points, while Eason and Jones added 16 each. Ross led the way for the Tigers with 29 points while Williams added 22.

LADY COUGARS 63 LADY TIGERS 48

Robyn Anthony and Mercedes Owens hit a long range shot each in the first half and the Cleveland State defense held the Lady Tigers to less than 30 percent shooting. A steal and a three-point play by Jara Gasper gave the Lady Cougars the lead midway through the half and they would never trail again. A pair of buckets in the paint from Me'Lisa Martinez and Shea Nunn helped the visitors hold an eight point advantage at the break, 32-24.

The Lady Tigers scored the first five points of the second half as Khamiyah Crawford hit a three-pointer and Sierra Sales added a bucket in the paint to cut the lead to only three points.

Cleveland State then kicked it into high gear with a 17-4 run to quickly push their lead into double digits. Ciera Anderson scored nine points during the run including seven of eight free tosses as the lead grew to an 18 point bulge.

The Lady Tigers made a couple of runs late in the game but were never able to cut the lead into single digits as the Lady Cougars picked up the big conference win on the road.We

"We played well today, this was a big conference win especially on the road," stated Lady Cougar coach Dan Lumpkin. "Ciera had a good game, she consistently took the ball to the basket, Jara did a great job of guarding their best player and limited her points. We rebounded well and never really let up."

Anderson led the way for the Lady Cougars (8-5, 4-3) with 17 points while Anthony finished with 16.  Sales paced the Lady Tigers with 12 points while Keyona Benton and Jamille Reed added nine each.