The Golden Eagles traveled to Circleville, OH, to take on a veteran NAIA Ohio Christian University team on Tuesday evening and a relentless ballhawking defense led to a huge comeback road win 69-64.
Having lost twice in the series to the Trailblazers---members of the River States Conference---by an average of 17 points, the Eagles proved that they don't get rattled in getting their first win in three tries versus OCU. This time out, they were down by 15 points on three different occasions, twice in the opening half and once early in the second stanza, but how they finished limiting Ohio Christian to a season low 26 points in the second half made the fans in The Maxwell Center groan.
They trailed 35-20 with 4:17 left on the first half clock. A small KSU Tusc barrage to close the half made the deficit more manageable in single digits as they outscored the hosts 10-3 while limiting OCU to one last basket with 1:24 showing. Meanwhile, the Eagles got a nifty spin move in the lane for a left-handed bucket from Kyle Shockley, and an even better lay in from Kameron Shockley on a lob from Kyle with 1:11 left. They also added a jumper by Ed Daniels with :53 ticks left. Daniels stole the ensuing inbounds pass and flicked the ball to Kameron Shockley who drained a pull up trey with :36 seconds left to pull to within 38-30.
Ohio Christian flexed some muscle and scored the first seven points of the final half to extend their lead to 45-30 before the Eagles responded. Over a five-minute span the navy and gold held the Trailblazers to just a single basket as they forged a 47-47 tie with 17 points of their own. A Kyle Shockley triple with 12:47 left in the game knotted the game after a pair of steals by Daniels and Roper got things moving in the Eagles favor.
Right after Roper laid a ball in off the glass to tie things at 49-49, Kameron Shockley gave the Eagles their first lead of the game with a pair of free throws at the 9:18 mark. They had trailed for nearly 30 minutes. Roper and Kameron Shockley then committed back-to-back thefts that were converted into easy baskets as the scales tipped toward KSU Tusc 55-49 with 7:33 to go. But everybody knows it's hard to play with a lead on the road and a couple of three balls by OCU soon tied the game again at 57-57. Things were knotted at 60-60 when Daniels stole another inbounds pass and laid it in for a short-lived 62-60 lead as the Maxwell Center crowd turned up the volume.
A reverse lay in on a Kyle Shockley drive from the right wing leveled the game at 64-64, before things became golden for the Eagles. The aforementioned Shockley was knocked out of bounds on a defensive rebound and made a free throw to inch the lead to 65-64 with :41.3 seconds left and the OCU fans yelled their displeasure at the officials. The Blazers missed a three-point shot with :20 left as the shooter was closely harassed by Daniels. Kameron Shockley picked up the errant missile and was fouled with :13.2 precious seconds left in the game. Still in the double bonus, he toed the line and sank both freebies for a 67-64 lead, assuring the Eagles of at least a tie if a miracle shot by OCU hit its mark.
After an OCU timeout, a Roper and Kameron Shockley double team knocked the ball free from the intended shooter near the home bench and the loose ball was collected by Kyle Shockley who was promptly fouled. With :04.5 seconds left he closed the door on the Trailblazers by making good on two bonus free throws to put the game out of reach 69-64.
The Shockley brothers accounted for 51 of the Eagles point total with Kameron dropping 29 points and Kyle tossing in 22. Kameron made 10/19 field goal attempts and snared 12 rebounds while Kyle converted on 8/13 shots and handed out four assists. The Eagles converted on 15/25 free throws as compared to just 2/6 for OCU. The Eagles made 13 steals and forced 21 turnovers in the game that they converted into 20 points as Daniels made four steals and Roper three.
No rest for KSU Tusc now 3-0 as they head to the two-day Connor Classic in Crestview, KY near Cincinnati on Friday and Saturday. The Golden Eagles will square off against two NAIA schools, with the Blue Raiders from Lindsey Wilson College up first on November 17th at 5:30 pm. On Saturday, November 18th they take on the host Saints of Thomas More University at 3:00 pm.
Kyle Shockley attacks the basket against Ohio Christian while Kameron Shockley shoots a pullup jumper in the lane.
Kameron Shockley rises up for a dunk against the Trailblazers.
(Photos by Jorge Pacheco)