Fresh off a four-game win streak that should certainly propel them higher in the USCAA D2 rankings, the No. 10, Golden Eagles faced a big test at NCAA DII, Central State University in Wilberforce, OH, on Wednesday evening.
The hopeful Eagles (16-9) knew that a huge step up in competition would certainly go a long way to help prepare them for a possible post season run. And, despite being mired in a 12-game loss streak with a meager record of 5-21, the Marauders were lying in wait for the undersized Eagles as they hoped to end the season on a good note in front of a raucous home crowd.
Realizing they are in control of their own destiny, KSU Tusc went into Beacom/Lewis Gym with one goal----compete hard and don't settle for any so-called "moral victory". And they didn't disappoint themselves as they held the lead for the last 28:49 seconds of the game, notching another victory via an impressive 83-71 road win.
They never panicked and displayed the sideline cool of a John Wooden coached team even when they trailed 4-0 at the outset of the game. And when they were down 14-8, they fought back to 14-13 on a Kameron Shockley triple and a London Cobbs follow of his own errant shot.
After committing turnovers on two consecutive possessions, they battled to a 19-19 tie on a Cobbs drive from the left wing, a reverse lay in from Shockley along with a straight-line drive to the rack from the top of the key by Kyle Shockley with 11:02 left.
Then KSU Tusc's armor took a big hit as 6'8" center DeJuan Lawrence hit the floor and came up lame near the midpoint of the half. His pronounced limp to the bench produced a huge lump in the throats of the Eagles faithful after he contributed four rebounds, two blocked shots and a dunk off an inbounds pass earlier in the half. He did not return after seeing just four minutes of action.
His loss sparked an unforeseen fire in the Eagles who found themselves down 24-23 with 7:04 left in the opening half. Cobbs willed himself to the basket for lay ups just 30 seconds apart and Kyle Shockley victimized the bandits with driving layups on two consecutive possessions to give the Eagles the lead for good at 29-27, an advantage that they would not relinquish as they played with a feverish tempo.
A Vinnie Roper steal and lay up and an uncontested dunk by Kameron Shockley off an under-basket inbounds pass sparked KSU Tusc to a 33-27 lead at the 4:21 mark. They finished off the half in great fashion by limiting the hosts to just two more hoops and took a 38-31 lead into the break.
It was the "Shockley Show" to start the final 20 minutes of play, as Kameron Shockley and brother Kyle tallied the Golden Eagles first 10 second half points during a 10-2 run to spot the navy and gold to a 50-33 lead with 16:42 left on the game clock. Both accounted for two steals and runout dunks to put the pressure on the Marauders defense.
Kyle Shockley's last throw-down came courtesy of a long outlet pass from Braden Rostad as he glided to the hoop and jammed home a two-handed gem. And when Central State tried doubling the Eagles guards, the good guys rolled out their Trojan Horse in the name of James Roundtree, who snared an offensive rebound and went glass for a hoop and followed that up with two offensive boards on one possession that led to another basket at 13:37. His play helped maintain KSU Tusc's double digit lead at 54-40.
But everyone knew to expect a run from CSU and it happened. The Eagles went three and one-half minutes without a basket as the Marauders pillaged their way back into the game with a 9-0 spurt to trail just 54-49.
Finally, like manna from heaven, a Kameron Shockley up and under move on an inbounds pass beneath the KSU Tusc basket broke the ice to give the winners a 56-49 lead with 10:04 left to play. The clock however, was still clearly in the Marauders favor, well, that was until you could almost hear a faint BBC voice announce "This is London Calling" from out of the darkness of having frittered away a big lead.
It was Cobbs' senior leadership that struck gold during the emergency, as he scored 15 of the Eagles 21 points during a 21-11 eruption that put them ahead 77-61 with just over two minutes to play. Rostad canned a back-breaking three-ball from the right corner with 2:02 left for and 80-61 lead just ahead of another late CSU charge.
The Marauders cut the lead down to nine points (80-71) with :27 left, but there was little doubt about the final outcome after Cobbs tossed the ball over the CSU fullcourt press to a wide open JaJuantae Young for an easy layup with :16 left to seal the victory.
Cobbs and Kameron Shockley led the way for the Golden Eagles scoring 28 and 24 points respectively. Cobbs sank 12/16 action shots (75%) while Shockley shot 58% from the floor making 11/19 tries. Both contributed eight rebounds.
Kyle Shockley scored 13 points, while James Roundtree scored eight points off the bench on 4/7 shooting and Vinnie Roper added eight caroms and three blocked shots.
The Golden Eagles (17-9) return home for their final three games of the season with the revenge factor being evident in their last two matchups. On Sunday at 2 pm, they square off against Andrews University, a team they defeated just one week ago by a score of 86-67.
Kameron Shockley scored 24 points and grabbed eight boards, while London Cobbs led all scorers with 28 points and also had eight caroms.
(Photos by Patty Tolloti)
James Roundtree made 4/7 field goals for 8 points at Central State
(Photo by Lindsey Nicholson)