PORTSMOUTH — The Central State Marauders suffered their seventh consecutive loss Jan. 8, falling 85-82 to Shawnee State in a non-league men’s college basketball game.
CSU drops to 4-11 overall while the Bears of Shawnee State improved to 9-7 on the season.
CSU jumped out to a 13-4 lead as CSU guard Martin Oliver knocked down a perimeter shot at the 16:05 mark of the first half. Chris Scott added a quick 10 points in the first 12 minutes of play, but Shawnee State methodically chipped away at the deficit. With the Marauders up 25-23 at the 6:50 mark, the Bears closed the half with a 17-6 run to take a 40-31 lead at intermission.
Shawnee State scored a quick layup less than a minute into the second half to take a 10-point lead. Central State quickly responded with a 13-3 run. Scott scored 8 points during the run that gave the Marauders a 46-45 lead with 15:07 to go. Shawnee State reclaimed the lead on a Bryan Rolfe three pointer. Oliver hit another three-pointer to tie up the game and CSU took the lead again on Frank Barber III’s bucket with 12:47 to go.
Shawnee State’s Matt Rhodes hit a three on his team’s next possession to spark a 10-0 run.
With SSU holding a 77-71 advantage with 4:51 to go, Central State fought back into the game thanks to a 9-2 run, capped off by a Jeremy Brown layup to give the Marauders an 80-79 lead. SSU split a pair of free throws and CSU’s Frank Barber III would again come up huge for the Marauders, getting an offensive rebound and put-back with one minute to go to put Central State up 82-80 with 38 seconds to play. On the next possession, Shawnee State converted as Matt Rhodes hit a another three-pointer from the corner with six seconds to go to give the Bears an 83-82 lead. The ensuing Central State possession with 3.6 seconds remaining would result in a turnover. The Bears added two free throws to go up, 85-82 with 1.8 second left on the clock. Chris Scott’s desperation heave from half court rimmed out as time expired.
Tamal Watkins led Shawnee State with 20 points. Rhodes finished with 17 points.
Scott led all scorers with 28 points, his eighth game of 20 or more points this season. Davone Daniels provided a spark for the CSU offense with 17 second half points. Barber III added 16 points and Brown finished with 12 points.
The Marauders will try to snap their losing streak at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 134 when they host Miles College.
