By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Dayton, OH---The Top 10 Owens Community College men's and women's basketball teams will travel to Sinclair Community College on Saturday to close out the regular season.
With a win, the men would clinch at least a share of the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) championship for the first time since 2001-02. With a win and a Lakeland win over No. 1 Cincinnati State, the Express would win the title outright.
The women, meanwhile, have already clinched an outright title and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming district tournament. They will look to win their seventh straight game tomorrow before opening tournament play next Friday.
WBB - No. 5 Owens C.C. (24-2, 10-1 OCCAC) vs Sinclair C.C. (14-15, 6-5 OCCAC) - 2 p.m.
Having already clinched, the Express women will take on a Sinclair team that is looking to create a three-way tie in the conference standings which could possibly vault them up to a No. 3 seed in the upcoming district tournament.
In the previous matchup between the two teams, the Express handed Sinclair a 113-59 loss on Feb. 8 in the Student Health and Activities Center (SHAC). Ashley Tunstall (Huber Heights Wayne/Dayton, Ohio) and Kamilah Carter (Pioneer/Ann Arbor, Mich.) combined for 41 points from the starting lineup, while Zhana Randolph (Rochester/Rochester Hills, Mich.) and Imani Vickers (Mansfield Senior/Mansfield, Ohio) added a combined 25 points off the bench. Paige Wright (Northrop/Fort Wayne, Ind.) and LaKayra Carlisle (Pershing/Detroit, Mich.) also started and combined for 23 rebounds.
The Tartan Pride were led by Osha Owens and Breanna Ball, who each scored 19 points.
The Feb. 8 game marked the start of the six game winning streak for the Express, who had their 18-game win streak snapped the game before.
An individual story line to follow is Carter's journey up the single season scoring list. The sophomore point guard is currently 10th with 509 points. Next up on the list are: Jasmine Blanton (2009-10, 520 pts), Stacey Weiland (2002-03, 524 pts) and Dawn Spencer (1996-97, 526 pts). With an above average game, Carter could pass Aja Hall (2011-12, 538 pts) for sixth place.
Carter is currently third in the conference in scoring, but the title is highly unlikely as she would need at least 62 points and have Phylicia Johnson of Cincinnati State to score 19 points or less to claim the crown.
Tunstall, however, has a better chance at the league's rebounding title. The sophomore needs to pull down 14 more rebounds than Cincinnati State's Danielle Cheatum on Saturday to claim the crown.
Wright, at 6.3 assists per game, sits in first place in assists in the conference. She likely won't be catched.
MBB - No. 10 Owens C.C. (23-5, 10-1 OCCAC) vs Sinclair C.C. (21-7, 6-5 OCCAC) - 4 p.m.
The stakes are high for both teams as the Express and Tartan Pride do battle tomorrow. For the Express, they can share the OCCAC championship with No. 1 Cincinnati State with a win. With a loss by Cincinnati State to Lakeland, they could clinch it outright.
Also, with an Express win and Cincinnati State loss, the Express would get the No. 1 seed in next weekend's regional tournament. If both teams win tomorrow and share the regular season title, the tiebreaker goes to Cincinnati State for the No. 1 seed at districts.
The game also holds meaning for John Murry (North Central/Indianapolis, Ind.), who, at 20.4 ppg, could overtake Winston Grays of Cincinnati State (21.4 ppg) for the conference scoring championship. Murry needs to outscore Grays by 11 to share the scoring championship and 12 to claim it outright.
Bikramjit Gill (Our Ascension of the Lord/Toronto, Ontario, Canada), a sophomore forward for the Express, should easily claim the conference's rebounding and blocked shot titles with current averages of 12.8 and 3.2 per game, respectively. The next closest in each category, respectively, is 9.0 and 2.2. Gill also averages 18.9 points per game in conference play, which is fourth best, and 1.9 steals, which is eighth best. Finally, Gill also leads the conference in offensive rebounds at 4.9 per game.
Andy Bachman (North Side/Fort Wayne, Ind.) is 11 3-point field goal attempts away from breaking Jeff Massey's career attempts record of 386, which was set from 1991-93. He also needs to make 24 more to break Massey's career made record.
The Express and Tartan Pride met earlier in the conference season on Feb. 8, which resulted in a 116-92 win for the Express. In that game, Murry, Shaakir Lindsey (Teaneck/Teaneck, N.J.) and Gill combined for 70 points on 30-for-47 shooting. In fact, the Express shot 49-for-86 (57 percent) as a team in that game, including a 12-for-29 (41.4 percent) finish from the 3-point line.
Sinclair was led in scoring by Charles Sweatt-Washington and Ramar Hairston with 18 points each, but the player that stood out was Richard Weaver, who had 16 points and eight rebounds in 25 minutes off the bench.
Notes
You can follow live updates of tomorrow's action on our Twitter page (@owensexpress), as well as find game information at our Facebook (www.facebook.com/awinningtradition) and Instragram pages (OwensExpressAthletics). We will post box scores immediately following the game at Owens Express.com, where we will also post full game recaps tomorrow evening.
Moreover, Sinclair Community College has partnered with Gem City Sports, who will broadcast each game live via internet radio. You can listen live by visiting GemCitySports.com