Box Score Marauders earn crucial road win over LeMoyne-Owen
MEMPHIS, Tennessee – The Central State Marauders ended a six-game road losing streak with a 71-63 conference victory over LeMoyne-Owen College on Monday night.
LOC looked strong on its home floor early on, taking a 17-10 lead at the 13:00 mark after a Aston Morton basket. The LOC lead ballooned to 26-16 when Desmond Black hit from beyond the arc with 8:32 left in the first half and the Magicians managed to hold a double-digit edge until
Dymiere Finch scored on the fast break to cut the deficit down, 29-21, at halftime.
Led by
Dwight Richards, Jr., the Marauder offense caught fire in the early stages of the second half. CSU manufactured a 21-2 run in the first six minutes of the half. Richards, Jr. accounted for 15 of CSU's points during the run to help his team to a 42-31 lead with 14:08 on the clock.
Frank Barber III delivered an energizing dunk while being fouled. After converting the free throw, Barber III gave CSU its largest lead of the night, 63-47, with 8:19 to play. LOC fight back with a defensive effort that held the Marauders scoreless over a span of five minutes. While CSU suddenly struggled to find points, the Magicians went on a 13-0 run to pull within three points with 3:02 remaining. After a
Jeremy Brown basket put CSU back up by five, Morton added a basket and free throw to bring LOC within two, 65-63, with 1:02 to play. CSU's
Markese McGuire came up with a big mid-range jumper to put the Marauder up, 67-63. After LOC came up empty on its next offensive possession, Richards, Jr. was intentionally sent to the free throw line where he made both attempts to seal the win.
After converting 25% of their shot attempts in the first half, CSU came back to make 54% from the field in the final 20 minutes. CSU forced LOC to commit 18 turnovers, resulting in a 18-7 edge in points scored off of giveaways.
Richards, Jr. scored 22 of his game-high 30 points in the second half. He also grabbed 9 rebounds and a season-high 3 steals. Brown, who battled through foul trouble the entire night, scored 11 points as CSU improved to 8-15 overall with a 5-8 ledger in the SIAC.
Morton led the LOC efforts with 20 points and 13 rebounds. LOC falls to 6-15 on the year and 5-7 in conference play.
Quotable: Head Coach
Joseph Price
"Dwight started off slow but he carried us in the second half and sealed the deal with clutch free throw shooting,"
"At this point in the season, every game is crucial. Tonight was a step in the right direction but our next game continues to be the most important."
"We have a tough test on Wednesday against a very talented Lane College team. If we can manage to play well at Lane, it will serve as a huge confidence builder as we fight for position in the conference tournament."
Notes:
- Richards, Jr. recorded his fourth game of 30 points or more this season.
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- Richards, Jr. has led all CSU scorers in the last seven games.
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- Tonight's win snapped a six-game road losing streak for CSU. Their last road win came on Dec. 3, 2016 at Paine College.
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- Currently in position for the No. 5 seed in the SIAC Tournament, CSU remains in the hunt to climb as high as No. 2 with a solid finish to the regular season.
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Next Up:
Feb. 8Â at Lane College, 7:30 pm CST
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