Greene County News

WILBERFORCE — The Central State Marauders dropped their fourth straight contest in a 78-63 home loss to Fort Valley State on Monday night.

The game was truly a tale of two halves for the Marauders, who were without their starting point guard Keilan Blanks. Despite Blanks’ absence, CSU was extremely efficient on offense in the first 20 minutes. CSU shooters had their best half of the season, making 76.2% of their shots and taking a 42-33 lead into halftime.

Unfortunately for the Marauders, the offense cooled down as CSU managed just one point in the first 5 minutes of the second stanza. While the perplexed CSU offense struggled to generate baskets, FVSU crept back into the game and built a 15-1 run to start the second half capped off by a dunk from Denard Williams that gave FVSU the lead at the 14:23 mark. The Marauders never fully recovered. A Thomas Farrior make from three-point range brought CSU within one point with 11:37 to go, but FVSU used its size advantage and rebounding abilities to shutdown any chance of a Marauder comeback by scoring the next nine points. With the Marauder offense continuing to find the mark, FVSU’s lead ballooned to 18 and the Wildcats were able to cruise to the final buzzer.

FVSU held a 43-28 edge on the glass which led to a 18-9 advantage in second chance points. The Wildcats also outscored the Marauders 28-15 off of turnovers. In the paint, FVSU’s size and length proved to be too much as the Wildcats outscored CSU, 48-30.

Five players scored in double-figures for FVSU. Jamaal Garrar finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Denard Williams recorded five blocked shots to go along with 12 points and 10 rebounds as his team improved to 4-6 on the season and 2-0 in Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference competition.

CSU’s Thomas Farrior finished with a season-high 21 points to pace the Marauders’ efforts. With Monday’s setback, CSU stands at 5-7 overall with a 2-3 mark in the SIAC.

The Marauders will be back on the hardwood when they travel to play Clark-Atlanta University at 7:30 p.m. this Thursday, Jan. 5.

Central State’s Frank Barber III (10) and teammate Thomas Farrior 91) defend against Fort Valley State’s Dareial Franklin (22) during Monday’s Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men’s basketball game in CSU’s Beacom/Lewis Gymnasium in Wilberforce.

http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2017/01/web1_fvsu_csu_mbb_PS.jpgCentral State’s Frank Barber III (10) and teammate Thomas Farrior 91) defend against Fort Valley State’s Dareial Franklin (22) during Monday’s Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men’s basketball game in CSU’s Beacom/Lewis Gymnasium in Wilberforce.