CSCC BASKETBALL VS. WALTERS STATE (1-15-13)
By BRYAN GRISHAM
CSCC Sports Information
MORRISTOWN - The Cleveland State Cougars let a second half lead
slip away and went long periods of time between buckets as they
dropped a Region VII Conference matchup with Walters State on a
rainy Tuesday night in Morristown. The Senators completed the
comeback win by a final talley of 62-53.
The Lady Cougars had a big hill to climb as they saw their six game
win streak come to an end as they fell to the 8th ranked team in
all the land, dropping an 81-57 decision to the Lady Senators.
The Senators knocked down the first, eight points of the game
almost before the Cougars knew what had hit them. A three-pointer
from the corner from Philipe Goncalves broke the ice and from there
the visitors slowly, but surely sliced into the Senator lead the
rest of the half.
A steal and slam dunk from Goncalves cut the led to only four
points midway through the half and a highlight film reverse layup
by Travis Jones gave the Cougars their first lead of the night at
22-21 at the 7:28 mark. A trey from Jones and a pair of driving
layups from Ralph Eason helped the Cougars maintain a slim lead,
but a three-pointer from Dedron Pillow and a pair of short jumpers
in the paint by Leland Robinson and Denard Williams helped the home
team catch up as they tied the contest at 37-37 by halftime.
Both teams shot the ball well in the first half as the Senators
blistered the nets for 45 percent while the Cougars shot 48
percent. The much taller Senators flexed their muscles in the
paint, outrebounding the Cougars 23-12.
The lead changed hands or the game was tied nine times in the early
part of the second half. An offensive rebound and putback by Xavier
Okoro gave the Cougars their largest lead at 52-47, but the
Senators came right back to tie the game and take the lead with a
10-0 run.
The Cougars then went ice cold from the floor as they were able to
only score one point over the final six minutes of the game. Elgrin
Wilson made his presence known in the paint down the stretch for
the Senators with three tough buckets as the home team held on for
the win.
Cleveland State shot 32 percent for the game including a dismal 19
percent in the second half which would be the statistic that they
would not be able to overcome. Walters State also won the battle on
the boards 51-34. Robinson and Wilson led the way for the Senators
(9-9) with 16 points each. Eason paced the Cougars (10-5, 5-3) with
13 points, Goncalves added 12 and Trey Suttles finished with
11.
LADY SENATORS 81 LADY COUGARS 57
The 8th ranked Lady Senators used their tremendous height advantage
all night long as they quickly jumped out to a 34-13 lead to start
the game and never looked back. The Lady Cougars hung tough as they
cut the lead back to only eight points with an 11-0 run midway
through the half. Mercedes Owens nailed three straight shots from
downtown and Tre'Ketta Bonds added a pair of tough buckets in the
paint for the visitors during the run.
Donessha Shular poured in 18 points in the half while Aisjah Roan
and Breonna Hall connected from three-point land to help Walters
State ease back out to a 45-30 halftime advantage. The Lady
Senators sizzled the nets to the tune of 54 percent in the half
while holding Cleveland State to only 34 percent.
The Lady Senators (15-1, 8-0)) maintained their lead and stretched
it the rest of the way as they sealed the win in strong order.
Shuler led all scorers with 28 points, Roan added 12 and Hall
finished with 10. Jara Gasper paced the Lady Cougars (11-6, 4-4)
with 14 points, Owens added nine and Shadave Taylor had seven.
Cleveland State will host Roane State on Saturday at 2:00. Both
games can be watched live via the Cougar Sports Network by going to
the Cleveland State website and following the links.