By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Toledo, Ohio---Owens Community College and Cincinnati State Technical and Community College have built quite a rivalry over the years, and Saturday should be filled with more thrilling moments as each team battles for an Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) championship.
The No. 8 Owens Express men's basketball team will travel to Cincinnati to take on No. 2 Cincinnati State Surge at 3 p.m. tomorrow, while the No. 6 Owens women's basketball team will take on Cincinnati State at 1 p.m.
The men's game will feature a battle between the conference's top scorers in John Murry (North Central/Indianapolis, Ind.) of Owens and Winston Grays of Cincinnati State. Murry is averaging 22.6 points, while Grays averages 22.2 per game. Murry has scored 28 in each of the past two games and is averaging 26 points over his team's past four games.
Owens also features the conference's top rebounder, Bikramjit Gill (Our Ascension of the Lord/Toronto, Ontario, Canada) at 14/game, the conference's top assist producer, Shaakir Lindsey (Teaneck/Teaneck, N.J.) at 8.3/game and the conference's top shot blocker, Gill at 3.2/game.
Cincinnati State also features the second best assist man in the conference in Orlando Berry at 7.1/game. Better yet, Berry only averages 0.7 turnovers in conference play and features a 10.0 assist to turnover ratio.
In addition to Murry, the Express are led in scoring by Gill (16.8/game), Lindsey (13.4/game), Andy Bachman (North Side/Fort Wayne, Ind.) at 13.1/game and Tony Boykins (Loy Norrix/Kalamazoo, Mich.) at 10.6/game.
In addition to Grays, the Surge are led by McKinley Bell at 11.7/game, Hugh Hobbs at 10.9/game and James Kilpatrick at 10.7/game.
The Surge are also the nation's third best scoring team at 101.8 points per game this year, while the Express are eighth at 91.7/game. In conference play, the Surge are averaging 102.3 per game, while the Express are at 91.7 per game.
The Express defeated the Surge 92-86 at Owens on Jan. 18. In that game, Lindsey scored a game-high 30 points, Grays had 26, Gill had 22 points, 14 rebounds and eight blocks and Murry had 16 points.
Tomorrow's game will play a big role in determining a conference champion and district tournament seeding. The Express enter at 20-4 overall and 7-0 in the OCCAC, while the Surge are 22-3 overall and 8-1 in the OCCAC. The Surge have won six in a row since their loss to the Express on Jan. 18, while the Express have won eight in a row.
The women's game will also play a big role in who wins the conference and district seeding as both teams sit at the top of the conference. The Surge, coming off a big road win over Columbus State, are 16-9 overall and 7-2 in OCCAC play, while the Express are 20-2 overall and 6-1 in OCCAC play.
Should the Express win, they would be at least two games up on everyone else with four games to play, while a Surge win would create a tie among the top of the conference standings.
The Surge feature Phylicia Johnson, who leads the conference in scoring at 25.8 per game, while the Express feature Kamilah Carter (Pioneer/Ann Arbor, Mich.), who averages the third best scoring mark in the conference at 20.9 per game.
In the only matchup between the two teams earlier in the conference season, the Express came out on top 88-82. Johnson had a game-high 30 points, but Carter had 29. Helping Carter, the Express got 22 points and 11 rebounds from Ashley Tunstall and 18 points from Eboni Adams.
Aside from Carter, Tunstall is averaging 13.1 per game and Adams averages 12.3 per game in the conference. In addition to Johnson, the Surge are led by Ericka Fitzpatrick at 14.4 points per game, Hannah Stephenson at 11.2 points per game and Danielle Cheatum at 11.1 points per game in the conference. The Surge also got Emily Fite back recently from injury. She was the team's leading scorer before going down several weeks ago and didn't play in the first matchup between the two teams.
Notes
Owens and Cincinnati State met three times each last year. On the women's side, Cincinnati State won the first matchup, while Owens captured the second game and the third, which happened to be on Cincinnati State's home court in the district championship game.
On the men's side, Owens also captured two of the three wins, including a victory over Cincinnati State in the district semifinals.
All four teams have a rich history of conference championships in the OCCAC. For example, the Owens and/or Cincinnati State have captured 19 of the past 21 conference championships in women's basketball.
You can follow live updates on Twitter (@owensexpress), and you can find full box scores and recaps after the games at OwensExpress.com.