"Aw, youth is wasted on the wrong people" is an infamous line from Frank Capra's "It's A Wonderful Life".
The youthful Golden Eagles basketball team didn't waste their juvenescence nor the opportunity to lead the way in a 78-77 road victory at Clark State on Saturday. And, Hollywood could not have scripted a better ending as freshman Brevan Raber (Sugarcreek, OH/Garaway High School) rattled home a game winning trey with 9.6 seconds left in the game.
Seconds after Raber's heroics, the Navy and Gold defense forced an awkward off balance shot in the lane which was swatted aside by transfer DeJuan Lawrence (Akron, OH/Kenmore) and the win was preserved.
KSU Tusc's freshman brigade scored 42 of the team's total on the day, as Collin Chambers (Louisville, OH/Louisville) topped the Eagles with 22 points with nine field goals scoring 12 in the second half and canning three triples. Reese Ringer (Rittman, OH/ Rittman) was next with 11 points and made three first half bombs, while all of Raber's nine points were dialed up from long distance.
Transfers Lawrence and London Cobbs (Chicago, IL/Roosevelt) combined for 29 points, as they scored 16 and 13 points respectively. Lawrence was also a beast on the boards and cleared 19 rebounds with eight of them coming on the offensive glass. Arthur Jackson was also in double figures with 10.
The winners led 38-30 at the midway point, but the second half was much closer with the lead changing hands several times. At one point Clark State took a five-point advantage with 2:42 left to play and lead by four with 1:39 ticks left in the game. That's when KSU Tusc went to work and shutdown the host Golden Eagles, outscoring them 5-0 down the stretch with a ball-hawking defense setting the stage for Raber's big shot.
With the victory, the Golden Eagles are 1-0 on the season while Clark State falls to 0-2.
The Eagles home opener is on Wednesday, February 3 versus Hocking College who was a 20-point victor over Clark State last Wednesday.
Collin Chambers Reese Ringer DeJuan Lawrence
