Box Score Marauders struggle in second half in loss to Benedict
COLUMBIA, South Carolina - The Central State Marauders converted just 30% of their shot attempts in Thursday's 69-56 road loss to Benedict College.
Neither team gained much separation from the other in the opening 20 minutes. The Marauders gradully built a 25-20 lead at the 3:48 mark thanks to five straight points from
Dymiere Finch. CSU was unsuccessful in building on their lead as Benedict scored the final five points of the half to knot the score, 25-25, at halftime.
BC opened the second half on a 7-2 run. A Morgan Justice three pointer put the Tigers up 32-27 at the 17:48 mark. Justice hit again from beyond the arc at the 14:48 mark and increased their lead to 10 with free throws from Kevin Scott at the 12:22 mark. While Marauder shooters struggled to find their mark, Benedict maintained a comfortable lead throughout the remainder of the game. The Tigers took their largest lead of the night with two Brandon Morris free throws to make the score, 62-45, with 4:26 remaining and cruised to the 16-point victory.
The Marauders made just 7 of 28 field attempts in the second half while the Tigers went an efficient 13 for 23 from the field during that span. BC outscored CSU in the paint, 24-10 and the Tiger bench outdueled the Marauder reserves, 28-20.
Morris led the Tigers to their first win of the season with 15 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists. With the win, Benedict improves to 1-3 on the season with a 1-0 mark in the SIAC.
CSU's
Markese McGuire led all scorers with 20 points. The loss dropped the Marauders to an overall record of 4-3 and 1-1 in conference play.
The Marauders will try to get back on track when they travel to Augusta, Georgia to play Paine College this Saturday.
