A sputtering second half offensive showing by Kent State Tuscarawas, sent the Golden Eagles down to an 83-65 defeat to Bryant & Stratton Cleveland on a snowy Wednesday night. After an inspired first half of play against the undefeated visitors from Solon, Ohio, the Navy and Gold struggled offensively and scored just 27 points and sank just nine field goals in the final 20 minutes.
KSU Tusc managed to convert just a free throw in the opening three minutes of the final stanza and did not get a basket until nearly seven minutes had ticked off the clock. Suddenly, they found themselves lagging behind by a 54-41 margin after trailing just 41-38 at the break.
The hosts trailed 5-0 at the outset of the game and it looked as if the Cougars were going to impose their will on the Golden Eagles for the entire 40 minutes. However, the first half saw three ties and five lead changes as the Eagles clawed back holding BSC scoreless for three minutes as they tied the game at 5-5 and then spurted ahead 10-5.
At the 11:47 mark, the Eagles owned a six-point lead at 17-11 before the Cougars scored five straight to close to 17-16. From there it was a battle until the teams were deadlocked at 25-25. The visitors took the lead for good at 27-25 and had a 36-29 lead with 3:26 left before the DJ and DeJuan Show took over.
DJ Haggins (Euclid, OH / New Day Academy) made a driving layup and sank three foul shots to cut the lead to 36-34 with just over two minutes left as the Eagles kept pace. With 1:12 left, DeJuan Lawrence (Akron, OH / Kenmore) banked home a backside rebound and drove baseline around three Cougar defenders and emphatically slammed home a two-handed dunk with 7.6 seconds left to tie the game at 38-38. A late three-point shot found its mark for BSC as the Cougars took a 41-38 lead to the locker room.
The Eagles could get no closer than seven points in the second half, 58-51, after Brevan Raber (Sugarcreek, OH / Garaway) and Braden Rostad (Gnadenhutten, OH / Indian Valley) knocked down back-to-back triples near the 8:21 mark of the game.
Twice, the lead swelled to 18 points, but KSU Tusc cut the deficit to 12 both times. A London Cobbs (Chicago, IL / Roosevelt) stick-back and free three throw and a Reese Ringer (Rittman, OH / Rittman) triple cut into the lead at the 3:06 and 2:24 marks respectively. Three straight turnovers to end the game however, led the lopsided final score.
Cobbs led the Eagles with a KSU Tusc career high 19 points. He also had 9 rebounds. Arthur Jackson (Euclid, OH / Euclid) was also in double figures with 12 and collected seven boards. Lawrence led in rebounding with 12 caroms and also had four blocks as the Eagles outrebounded BSC 41-29.
Now 1-3 on the season, the Golden Eagles will host Terra State on Tuesday, February 16.
DeJuan Lawrence records one of his four blocks versus BSC.
Arthur Jackson scored 12 points against the Cougars. Photos by Jason Keller