Box Score Blanks provides spark in Marauders 89-70 win over Wilberforce   Â
WILBERFORCE, Ohio - Another chapter in the Central State – Wilberforce rivalry played itself out in front of a sold out crowd on the campus of WU on Thursday night with the CSU Marauders taking control late for a 89-70 victory.
Escaping with a two-point win the last time the two teams faced off, the Marauders came out motivated in the opening minutes of play led by the energy of junior
Frank Barber III, who scored 5 points in the first 6 minutes. A
Jalen Newsome three-pointer put the Marauders up, 22-10, at the 12:58 mark of the 1
st half. With CSU up 37-28 with 4:48 remaining before halftime, Wilberforce closed out with a 12-4 run to cut the deficit to just 3 points at the break.
After a three point make from Malik Breckenridge, WU trailed by just one point at the 16:38 mark of the second half. The Marauders regained their poise as baskets by
Keilan Blanks,
Markese McGuire and
Thomas Farrior quickly increased the CSU lead back to seven.
With a CSU lead of 69-63 and the game still in the balance with 4:43 to go, Blanks helped the Marauders seize control. The senior point guard came down the floor and converted a rare 4-point play after being fouled on a made three point attempt. The play sparked a 19-2 run as the Marauders ballooned their lead to 88-65 with a basket from
Joey Williams. Two seemingly meaningless baskets from WU brought the game to a close with CSU winning by 19 points.
As a team, the Marauders has a terrific night scoring in the paint. CSU scored 46 points in the key compared to an 18 point performance from Wilberforce. The Marauders also held a 21-9 advantage in fast break points.
Blanks was brilliant in the second half, scoring 14 of his game-high 25 points in the final 20 minutes of play. Fighting through foul trouble all night long, Barber III maintained a consistent level of play with 15 points and 5 rebounds. McGuire scored 12 on the night.
Jeremy Brown led all players with 12 rebounds to along with 7 points as the Marauders improved to 2-1 overall.
Breckenridge led Wilberforce with 13 points. The loss dropped the Bulldogs to 4-3 overall.
The Marauders will have the weekend off before traveling to Detroit, Mich. to face Wayne State University on Wednesday at 5 pm.
Fans can watch the game live on -
http://wsuathletics.com/watch/?Live=449
Â
NOTES:
The Marauders are now 4-0 against Wilberforce under head coach
Joseph Price.
The Central State University and Wilberforce University campuses are separated by less than 300 yards.
Every active Central State player played in Thursday night's game against Wilberforce. Twelve of the thirteen CSU players scored at least one basket.
Wilberforce guard Patrick Mitchell was honored during pregame in a celebration of eclipsing 1000 career points and 500 career rebounds.
Thursday night's game was the second of nine straight road games for CSU.
Thursday night's score was originally reported as a CSU 88-70 win. After review, a
Jalen Newsome converted free throw with 4 seconds left was correctly scored to give CSU a 89-70 win.
The Marauders do not play at home again until Dec. 30 against Albany State University.
