Saturday afternoon was the first round of the Midwest divisional tournament in Owensboro Kentucky, where the 7th ranked Marauders took on 2nd ranked Bellarmine University. Going into this game, it was clear that the Knights thought it would be an easy victory. Bellarmine quickly found out that this game would be anything but easy.
The Knights escaped the first round with a win, but did so with a lot of respect for the Marauders. The aggressive defense of the Marauders caused the Knights to work much harder and caused them to miss many shots. Central State proved they could stand toe to toe with any team in the tournament.
Saturday afternoon’s contest was the definition of a seesaw battle. The lead went back and forth for a total of 12 times during the game. Neither team could build a sizeable advantage as each team only led by as much as 6 points for the entire game.
The first 20 minutes started with the Knights drawing first blood, as Braydon Hobbs hit a jumper on their first possession. The Marauders quickly answered with a lay up by Wesley Jones to tie the game. That is how the scoring went for the rest of the half, both teams going back and forth, one team always having an answer for the other. With 2 seconds left in the half, the Knight’s Justin Benedetti drained a bucket from long range to tie the game at 28 as the first half came to a close.
The second half started with the Knights breaking the tie with another score by Justin Benedetti inside the paint. Wesley Jones hit one from the perimeter on the ensuing possession for the Marauders to give them a 1 point advantage. After a missed jumper by Hobbs(BU), Gino Smith hit a three-pointer of his own and gave the Marauders a 4 point lead. For a moment it looked as though the Marauders were gaining some momentum as another three-pointer found the basket off the hands of Anthony Passley. The Marauder lead was 6 when Benedetti answered with a three-pointer of his own and cut the lead to 3. Benedetti’s long range basket was the start of a 7 point run by the Knights to regain the lead by one point at the 15:23 mark. The scoring seesawed back and forth for the next 10 minutes where the score was tied for the final time 58-58.
With 5 minutes left to go, Jeremy Kendle hit a three pointer to break the tie for the Knights. The Marauders then added a foul shot by Robert Harris but the Knights added two foul shots on the ensuing possession. The Knights had the advantage by 4 with 3:30 left to play. Moments later, Cole Prophet drove to the basket and made a lay up and cut the lead to 2. The Knights answered quickly with a three-pointer to increase the lead by 5. With a minute and a half to play, Anthony Passley answered with a lay up to cut the lead to 3 but his bucket was answered by another long range basket by the Knights. Robert Harris, with less than a minute left and down by 6, drove to the basket and made a lay up and was fouled in the process. Harris went to the line and made his foul shot just like he had done all year. The lead was cut down to 3 with 47 seconds left.
The Marauders tried for the steal as the Knights inbounded the ball but could not get the ball so Robert Harris committed his fifth and final personal foul and fouled out of the game. Jeremy Kendle went to the line and missed which gave the Marauders some life as they got the rebound. The Marauders quickly ran down the court with time quickly ticking away when just before Cole Prophet let the ball go for a three-pointer, coach Lewis called a timeout with 4 seconds left. That was a good decision to call that timeout because Prophet had missed the shot and the Knights came away with the rebound and the game would have been over right there. With 4 seconds left to go the Marauders needed a three pointer to tie the game. The ball was inbounded by the Marauders but found the hands of Bellarmine’s Oladapo Fagbenle as he stole the ball and sealed the game for the Knights. The Knights added a foul shot at the end and escaped a close first round contest with a score of 70-66.