With all five starters scoring in double digits, the Central State University Marauders defeat Lake Erie College at home Saturday afternoon. With that win the men’s basketball team go on another win streak, winning their third in a row. Their record for the season improves to 12-2 while Lake Erie falls to 6-13.
All five starters came through with solid performances but the sophomore point guard, Cole Prophet led the team in scoring with 16 points. Junior forward, Anthony Passley, was not far away with 14 total points. Damone Pledger had a stand-out performance scoring 12 points and recording 12 rebounds (6 off and 6 def). The sophomore forward also recorded two blocks and two steals.
Central State scored the first 7 points of the game and led by as much as 10 points in the early portion of the first half. The Storm rallied from there and went on a 10-2 run cutting the deficit to 2 points. With 6 minutes left to go in the half, the lead changed hands when Garrick Simms cleaned up a missed lay-up by Antonio Kidd. The lead changed hands several times before the end of the half. Central State would go into the locker room with a one point advantage.
Lake Erie started the second half with Darnell Campbell who shot two from the free throw line hitting one for two. Lake Erie took the lead 90 seconds into the half when Garrick Simms made an easy lay-up. The Marauders went on a 9 point tear regaining the lead by 7. The Storm got the deficit back down to two points, but the Marauders were unwilling to give up the lead for the rest of the game. They led by as much as 11 going down the stretch. They added a handful of free throws at the closing minutes to shut the door on the Storm, handing them their thirteenth loss of the season.
Central State shot 52 percent from the floor while their opponents shot a dismal 39 percent from the floor. The Marauders lit up the free throw line with an 85 free throw percentage (23-27). The good guys had a slight advantage off the glass, as they recorded 38 rebounds to their opponents 35. Central got 21 points off of turnovers and received a strong contribution from the bench with 17 points.
Lake Erie’s Ethan Bradshaw had a star performance scoring 25 points against the Marauders. He was a perfect 10 for 10 from the free throw line and recorded 7 boards. Bradshaw didn’t take good care of the basketball however, committing 8 turnovers, almost half of the entire team combined.
Urbana University is next in line for the Marauders. They will travel to the Grimes Center on Tuesday to try and extend their win streak to 4 games. Urbana has a record of 8-8 overall for the season.