Marauders unable to keep up with Bluefield State in 101-90 loss


WILBERFORCE, Ohio - The Central State Marauders lost to Bluefield State, 101-90, in Wednesday night's regular season finale.


The loss dropped CSU to 6-19 overall while BSU improved to 9-12 on the year.


Down by six at half, CSU allowed a 18-2 BSU run to start the second half. A dunk by Landry Palata gave BSU a 72-50 lead with 14:44 to go and CSU failed to make a significant threat to the lead as both teams went deep into their benches in the final minutes of the game.

The game featured two 30-point scorers in BSU's Marquez Cooper and CSU's Willie Jackson.


Copper led all players with 33 points, making 14 of 26 shot attempts. Jordan Hinds added 18 points in the BSU victory.


Jackson finished Wednesday night with 31 points on an efficient 12 of 15 shooting performance. Dustin Davis contributed to CSU;s efforts with 16 points. Michael Reeves added 14 points and Lavar Miller had 10 points in the loss.


CSU will spend the rest of the week preparing for the upcoming SIAC Tournament in Rock Hill, South Carolina. CSU will enter the tournament as a seventh seed and will play on Monday at 10 am.

For additional information on this year's SIAC Tournament, visit - http://thesiac.com/tournaments/?id=46&path=mbball



INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

- CSU senior Jovon Jones was honored during pregame.

- Jackson's 31 points marked a new career-high. He finished the regular season avaeraged 10.2 ppg - nearly nine points better than his scoring average as a freshman.

- CSU awaits conference results to see who will be the opponent will be in Monday's opening tournament game. CSU faces the sixth seed from the SIAC East Division.