Box Score Marauders' comeback effort falls short in 66-60 loss to Washington Adventist
TAKOMA PARK, Maryland -Â
 The Central State Marauders managed to cut a double-figure deficit to just two points late in the final minutes of Tuesday night's game at Washington Adventist University, but could not complete the comeback as the Shock held on to take a 66-60 victory.
Entering the game with a perfect 10-0 record and ranked No. 17 in the NAIA National Poll, Washington Adventist gained separation from the Marauders late in the first half thanks to four straight makes from beyond the arc to spark a 17-4 WAU run. WAU ended the first half with a fast break dunk to go into the break with a 40-25 lead.
WAU remained in control throughout the majority of the second half before the CSU offense erupted with a 11-2 run to cut the WAU lead down to 61-59 with 3:02 remaining. Turnovers and poor execution at the free throw line were costly for the Marauders down the stretch as CSU converted just 1 of 4 attempts from the line while turning the ball over twice. While the Marauder offense went cold in the final 3:02, WAU made 5 of 6 from the charity stripe to help seal the victory.
"It was a hard fought game tonight. We did a great job of forcing turnovers but had difficulty scoring in transition. We had a number of plays in the final minutes where we failed to execute." CSU head coach
Joseph Price said. "If we can clean up our mistakes and execute better down the stretch, we will be ok moving forward. With quite a few injuries on our roster, we have a few days off to get healthy before we travel up to Michigan to play a very talented team in Saginaw Valley State. I am confident that our players will continue to improve and compete at a high level."
With win, WAU remains perfect on the season with an 11-0 overall mark. Charles Vines paced the Shock with a game-high 19 points and 7 assists.Â
CSU fell to 5-4 on the year.
Thomas Farrior finished with 12 points and 7 rebounds.
Robert Konteh filled the stat sheets with 9 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.
"I wanted to come out and play with more intensity today," Konteh said. "We are going to focus on correcting our mistakes in practice and continue to work hard."
The Marauders will conclude a stretch of nine straight road games when they travel to University Center, Michigan to face Saginaw Valley State University on Monday, Dec. 18. SVSU is ranked No. 7 in the NCAA Div. II Coaches Poll and No. 13 in the Div. II Media Poll with a 9-1 overall record.
CSU Sports Communication Intern Robert Konteh contributed to this article
