It was a packed house Saturday night at the Beacom-Lewis Gym to watch the CSU Marauders take on arch rival Kentucky State University. With 2400 fans in attendance, the highest mark all season, the Marauders did not disappoint coming away with a victory in exciting fashion 73-71.
Central State entered Saturday’s game on a five game win streak, while Kentucky State has not won five games all season. Needless to say the Marauders were the clear favorites, on paper. Records, statistics, and rankings simply do not matter in a game like this. When two heated rivals square off, anything can happen. It’s just a matter of who wants it more. Saturday night, the Marauders wanted it that much more as they came away with a victory in the closing seconds of the game.
Junior point guard, Wesley Jones came through with a 19 point performance, shooting 8 for 12 from the floor, and 3 for 5 from the three-point line. The Kentucky native also recorded three rebounds, an assist and a steal. Gino Smith, senior forward, had a strong performance as he led the team in rebounds with 10 and added 13 points. Lee Tabb and Robert Harris contributed off the bench scoring a combined 19 total points. Cole Prophet led the team in assists with four and Damone Pledger led the team in steals with 3.
The first half started with the Marauders going on a 5-0 run. Moments later the Thorobreds rallied for a 5-0 run of their own, tying the game five minutes into the half. Competition was fierce as the score was tied 7 times in the first half. With 2:30 left to go in the half Kentucky State went on a 7 point run and would end the half leading by 5.
After a pep talk by head coach Doug Lewis, the Marauders started the second half with another 5-0 run tying the game once again. From there, the Thorobreds went on an 8-2 run leading the game by 6. Kentucky State led by as much as 8 with 14 minutes left to go in the half. After the Marauders called a timeout just before the Thorobreds extended their lead by 8, the Marauders went on a 13 -0 run and regained the lead by 5. With less than a minute left Jarrod Gay drained a three-pointer and gave the Thorobreds a one point lead.
The Marauders could not find an answer for Jarrod Gay of KSU as he drained 5 from downtown on the night. His 22 point performance was a big part of the Thorobreds effort to keep the game close. Both teams would trade foul shots at the line with 30 seconds left to go, KSU led by one. With all 2400 fans on their feet, Gino Smith lays one up giving his team a one point advantage with 17 ticks on the clock. The dangerous Jarrod Gay had the ball again with three seconds left, but gave the ball away along with any hope of winning the game. Robert Harris added a foul shot at the end to give his team a 73-71 victory over KSU.
Central State travels to Ohio Dominican University Wednesday night to extend their win streak to 7. The Marauders have a record of 16-3 and Ohio Dominican are 7-13 for the season.