Box Score Second half shooting woes prove costly for Marauders against Albany State

WILBERFORCE, Ohio - The rims of Beacom/Lewis Gymnasium seemed to shrink for the Marauders of Central State as they fell to Albany State, 71-65, on Friday night.

In a highly contested and quick paced contest, Albany State took an early 16-11 lead with 10:27 left in the first half but by the 5:27 mark CSU responded to even up the score, 21-21, thanks to a three pointer from Marquise McGuire. The Marauders went on to hit their next six field goal attempts en route to the largest lead of the night, 35-28, with 1:56 remaining before halftime. ASU cut the deficit down to 5 thanks to an acrobatic finish at the buzzer from Juwan High.

ASU quickly erased the CSU lead in the early stages of the second half as Devontay Ward scored 6 quick points to help put his team up, 42-41, at the 17:05 mark. While Albany State's offense began to find momentum, the Marauders managed to weather the storm and regained the lead as a Thomas Farrior scored to give CSU a 54-53 lead with 9:30 remaining. High responded for ASU on the next possession with a make from beyond the arc and his team never trailed from that point on. The Marauders failed to convert critical shots down the stretch as CSU shooters combined to make just 4 of 15 shot attempts in the final 9 minutes. Free throws from Michael Green helped seal the win for Albany State in the final seconds as ASU celebrated the 6-point victory.

The Marauders hit just 29% from the field in the final 20 minutes compared to Albany State's 47.1% performance. The Rams also outscored the Marauders in the paint, 40-28.

Branden Hudson led ASU scorers with 15 points. Every Albany State player who logged playing time scored. With the victory. the Rams improve to 7-6 overall and 2-1 in SIAC play.

Dwight Richards, Jr. led CSU with a game-high 18 points and 8 rebounds. He was the only CSU player to score in double-figures as the team fell to 5-6 on the year with a 2-2 mark in conference play.

The Marauders will return to the hardwood at home on Monday against SIAC opponenet Fort Valley State at 7:30 pm.

Fans can follow the game on the following links:

Listen on Gem City Sports Network - http://www.gemcitysports.com/radio-1/

Watch on Marauder Sports Streaming Channel - http://maraudersports.com/watch/

Follow on Marauder Live Stats Site - http://www.sidearmstats.com/centralstate/mbball/

Central State University is allowing free admission to all home basketball games throughout the holiday break which includes games on Dec. 30 and Jan. 2.