Two flocks of Golden Eagles battled for air superiority in Springfield, OH on Wednesday night, and while Clark State seemed enamored in shooting long range aerials it was KSU Tusc that ruled the skies around the baskets.
CSCC may have sunk five timely first half three-balls, but KSU responded with four of their own to go along with five offensive stick backs and 15 bench points to take a solid 45-34 halftime lead. They rode that momentum to a 93-66 road victory improving their overall record to 17-8.
The win was a big one for the Golden Eagles who have one last road game left on Saturday and await their post season fate via the USCAA Tournament Bid Show on Thursday night at 5:30.
Twice in the first 20 minutes the Eagles built 12-point leads only to have Clark State fight back to within six points. The KSU Tusc bench, however, was strong, mostly in the form of James Roundtree who scored the first four Eagles points of the game and finished the first half with seven points. Two of his baskets came on offensive rebounds of his own misses.
CSCC scored the first basket of the second stanza to cut the lead to single digits (45-36), but the Golden Eagles wielded their talons and clawed out a 10-0 run to stretch the lead to 55-36 and the route was on. Roundtree did some of the damage again, muscling in a basket and driving to the left side of the rim from the right wing for another one at the 16:07 mark.
The skies kept darkening for Clark State, clouded by KSU Tusc's relentless attack on the basket and the shadows of four home run balls from Braden Rostad. He made two in each half with his last spotting the Eagles to a 74-50 advantage with 10:40 left.
The Golden Eagles largest lead reached 29 points (83-54) on a basket and free throw by Kyle Shockley with 6:04 to play.
The Eagles bench was huge on this night, contributing 35 points to the cause as six players reached double figures. Rostad led the way with 16 points on 6/10 shooting while raining in 4/7 three-point tries. He was followed by Roundtree with 15 tallies on 7/12 from the floor to go along with eight rebounds. Three players, DeJuan Lawrence, London Cobbs and Kameron Shockley all scored 12 apiece, while Arthur Jackson added 10. It was Lawrence's 15th double-double game on the season as he also collected 10 missed shots.
For the game the Eagles shot 51% from the floor, with many of their shots coming within high percentage distance as they outscored Clark State 56-32 in the paint. They also held a decided 47-31 rebounding edge, scored 13 points in transition compared to CSCC's two points, were a perfect 15/15 from the free throw stripe, dished out 16 assists and blocked six shots.
It was the second time this season that KSU Tusc's Golden Eagles scored a victory over Clark State, having won 99-58 in early December.
On Saturday, the Golden Eagles travel to Miami Hamilton to face the USCAA No. 3 Harriers in a 3:00 p.m. tip. It's the last regular season game of the season.
Arthur Jackson works against pressure and scored 10 points for the Golden Eagles.
Braden Rostad flips in two of his 16 points and DeJuan Lawrence was chairman of the boards against Clark State. Photos by Patty Tolotti