Regardless if it was Hemingway or W. L. Sheldon who said, "There is nothing noble in being superior to some other man, the true nobility is in being superior to your previous self", the quotation aptly describes the improved level of play exhibited by the Kent State Tuscarawas basketball team.
Sure, it must have felt good, as the Eagles response erased any laments about the result of a November 25th loss at CC Beaver County as this time they held off a very big and physical Titans team 79-69 in Founders Hall Gym on Wednesday. What they learned about themselves in winning their seventh straight game was more valuable than any sense of revenge or superiority.
For revenge to be enjoyable, the handling of the response is what matters, and what mattered is that the Golden Eagles certainly improved themselves from an 83-57 loss on the Titans floor when they shot a meager 28% from the floor.
It was a struggle at the start as neither team managed to move the scoreboard lights for the first three minutes of the game. The Eagles went null for their first four shots to go along with a turnover, before they broke the ice for 2-0 lead.
Then everything seemed to go right for CCBC who managed several small leads as KSU Tusc struggled to match them. The threat for a breakout was real, but the Eagles remained patient and kept the Titans within reaching distance allowing them a lead no bigger than four points (16-12). A London Cobbs triple pulled the Eagles to 16-15 at the 9:45 mark and they secured their first lead (17-16) of the game when Cobbs banked home a shot in the low post with 9:14 left.
The half finished with five lead changes and three ties, the last at 29-29 with 3:05 on the clock. Kyle Shockley broke the deadlock with a pair of free throws for a 31-29 Eagles lead, before hitting a turnaround jumper in the lane for a 33-29 advantage with 2:13 left before a huge play in the waning seconds sent the crowd into a frenzy.
With just :05 left in the half, Cobbs stole the ball and raced down court to the right baseline shadowed by a much taller Titan's player. With the path to the basket blocked and the defender leaping to guard against a shot, Cobbs lofted a fade away 12-foot jumper over the defender that splashed through the net as the buzzer sounded giving the Eagles a 35-29 lead at the half.
Talk about redemption! Cobbs acquitted himself nicely by scoring 12 first half points after netting just four in the first meeting at CCBC.
In the final 20 minutes, the Eagles jumped out to a quick 40-31 lead. The Titans however, just kept up the pressure on both ends of the court and cut the margin to 42-37 with 14:26 left in the game.
Kyle Shockley sank three free throws after getting fouled on a shot from behind the arc to make it a 49-40 lead and after a Titans basket, Aaron Gergely drained a three from the top of the key for the largest lead of the game (52-42) with 11:07 left. Gergely was the beneficiary an inside out game via a kick out pass from Braden Rostad on the play.
Following an Ethan Bower trey from the top of the wheel, the Eagles offense went silent for what seemed like an eternity which allowed CCBC to creep to with 55-51 with 8:27 left on the board. It appeared that the Eagles missed a golden opportunity when Cobbs stepped to the line to shoot two foul shots, but he uncharacteristically missed both.
Undeterred, Cobbs outhustled everyone to the ball after his second miss caromed off the rim to the left wing. He scooped the ball up and raced to the basket for a driving layup with 8:04 left to make the lead 57-51. The Titans started adding full court pressure to upset the Eagles plan and it did slow them down a bit.
When KSU Tusc held them scoreless over for nearly 1:30, the lead jumped to 66-58. The Titans came right back and cut the lead to 66-62, but with 3:05 left, the Eagles missed a triple and Cobbs snuck in from the back side and was all alone in the air as he redirected the ball back into the hoop for a 68-62 advantage.
A triple at 2:45 got the never-say-die Titans back to 68-65, but they could not have forseen what was about to happen. Rostad possessed the ball in traffic at the right elbow extended and the Titans expected him to shoot a three. Instead, he drove past one defender and drew the attention of the Titan's center who misread Rostad's intentions and opted to play for a dump pass to the low post. Rostad switched hands and went glass for a layup with 2:25 to go that gave the Eagles some breathing room at 70-65.
The Eagles finished off the game at the free throw line as they outscored CCBC 9-4 down the stretch. Cobbs sank a pair of freebies with 1:02 left for a 74-65 lead after a JaJuante Young drive to the rack. Then Kyle Shockley sank five more charity tosses after a hard foul and a bench technical to provide the final 79-69 margin.
Kyle Shockley led the Eagles in scoring with 24 points, as he sank 16 free throws and tallied 17 second half points. Cobbs was next with 22 points and Kameron Shockley added 10.
With the win, the Eagles raised their record to 19-9 on the season and will host Miami Middletown in another revenge game on Saturday at 1pm.
Kyle Shockley pulls up for two and led all scorers with 24 points, and Aaron Gergely drops a three-ball in from the left corner.
Braden Rostad splits a pair of Titans for a layup and brothers Kameron and Kyle Shockley share a nice moment in the final seconds against CCBC.
(Photos by Lindsey Nicholson)