Golden Eagles men's basketball Team No. 8 got in some road work on Thursday night in Springfield, OH, and steam rolled past Clark State 104-77.
The lopsided win was just what this transitioning team needed heading into a two week stretch when they square off against much larger (NAIA, NJCAA, NCAA DII) established programs. Eleven KSU Tusc players cracked the scoring column.
Mid way through the opening half the Eagles paved a 33-24 lead which nearly disappeared when they ran into a bumpy road for two and one-half minutes. During that rocky stretch the homestanding Golden Eagles managed to cut the lead to 33-30.
A Charles Echols triple and a Darion Lee dunk off a spinning pass in the lane from Kameron Shockley gave the Eagles a 43-32 lead. A short time later, Kyle Shockley banked home a short jumper for a 13-point lead, and followed that with a lob pass to brother Kameron on an inbounds pass for a rim-rocking one-handed jam with :57 seconds left in the opening half for a 49-36 advantage.
The navy and gold took a 53-42 lead into the locker room at halftime.
In the final half the Eagles cleared the way like a road grader, scoring 51 points while limiting Clark State to 35 as they smoothed the path for the rest of the lineup. Much to the liking of the coaching staff, Ethan Bower was a boss scoring 20 points and raining home six three balls on the night---by far his best shooting night as a Golden Eagle.
Joining Bower in double digits were four other Eagles, as Kameron Shockley tossed in 19, Kyle Shockley had 14, while Darion Lee and Mekhi Johnson both added 10 in subbing roles.
On Tuesday, November 14th the Golden Eagles (2-0) travel to Ohio Christian for a 7:00 p.m. tip.
Kameron Shockley throws one down and scored 19 points, while Ethan Bower canned six treys and led the Eagles with 20 points at Clark State.
(Photos by Lindsey Nicholson)