Box Score Benedict shooters sink Marauders in SIAC opener

WILBERFORCE, Ohio – Playing in the first ever home opener as a member of the SIAC, Central State was narrowly defeated by the Tigers of Benedict College, 81-79, on Thursday night.

In a game that had 8 lead changes, Benedict found a way to carve out a 7 point lead approaching the end of the half thanks to a spectacular first half from BC's sixth man Quayshun Hawkins, who scored 15 of his 21 points in the opening 20 minutes. With time running down, Tom Johnson heaved an off balanced three pointer that found the bottom of the net as the horn sounded to bring CSU within 4 at halftime.

The Tigers quickly regained their poise early in the second half, gradually building their largest lead of the night, 58-44, with 14:31 remaining. Refusing to back down, the Marauders answered with a 14-2 run to narrow the gap to 64-62 with 9:33 to go. A few minutes later, forward Hosie Smith gave CSU a 66-65 lead with a three point play. The teams continued to trade baskets with BC's Jordan Smith hitting back-to-back threes while Sterling Gilmore and Tom Johnson answered with makes on the other end. Tied 71-71 with 3:09 to go, clutch free throw shooting would prove crucial as BC converted 7 of 9 from the line. CSU made just three trips to the line and had two of its starters foul out in forward Jeremy Brown and guard Tom Johnson. With 10 seconds remaining, Hawkins sealed the victory by calmly hitting two clutch free throws to silence a frenzied CSU crowd. CSU attempts at scoring on the game's final possession where relegated to a last second tip in by Robert Konteh as BC celebrated the victory.

Hawkins and Smith led all scorers with 21 points on the night as the Tigers improved to 5-2 overall and are now 1-0 in conference play. As a team, Benedict hit 12 of 23 shot attempts from beyond the arc and shot 48% from the field.

An encouraging sign for the Marauders (0-3; 0-1) was the play of Gilmore. After struggling with his shot in the in first two games of the year, Gilmore finished with 18 points, 3 assists and 4 rebounds. Johnson had 12 points and continues to take strides as a freshman point guard.
 
Central State hopes to even its SIAC record to 1-1 this Saturday when the team hosts Paine at 3 pm.  Fans can follow Saturday's action live on the Marauder Sports Streaming Channel or listen on the Gem City Sports Network.
 

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