By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Toledo, Ohio---The Owens Community College women's and men's basketball programs will be looking to take down Columbus State Community College in a crucial Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) doubleheader in the SHAC tomorrow night.
The games mark the home finale for each team.
The No. 5 Express women will be looking for their fifth straight win. In doing so, they would clinch at least a share of the OCCAC championship with road two games left. In the way, however, are the Cougars of Columbus State, who handed the Express their only conference loss on Feb. 1 in Columbus.
In that game, the Express rallied from 13 points down to take a four-point lead on two occassions with under six minutes left. With a 62-58 lead, the Express saw Columbus State's Hannah Frey drain a 3-pointer to pull her team within one with 5:19 left. Kamilah Carter (Pioneer/Ann Arbor, Mich.) responded with a 3-pointer of her own to give the Express a 65-61 lead with 4:32 left.
Once again, however, Frey drained a 3-pointer to pull within one, followed by a Breyonia Hearn jumper to give Columbus State the lead. Carter answered with a driving lay-up to give the Express a 67-66 lead, but Columbus State got a jumper and another 3-pointer from Frey as they closed the game on a 7-0 run.
With that loss, the Express saw their school record tying 18-game win streak come to an end, but they have bounced back since then and look to avenge that loss at 5 p.m. tomorrow.
The Express enter tomorrow's game with a 22-2 overall record and an 8-1 mark in OCCAC play, while the Cougars enter at 17-5 overall and 4-4 in OCCAC play.
Carter enters the game averaging 20.4 points per game in the conference, which puts her third, while Kalyn Daniel (14.8/6th) and Frey (12.6/10th) of Columbus State are also in the top 10. For the Express, Ashley Tunstall (Huber Heights Wayne/Dayton, Ohio), who experienced foul trouble in the loss to Columbus State, is seventh in the OCCAC at 14 points per game, while Eboni Adams (Maple Heights/Cleveland, Ohio) is 11th at 12.4 points per game.
Tunstall is fourth in the OCCAC in rebounding (8.7/game), while Jaslynn Rollins of Columbus State is second at 10.1 per game. Paige Wright (Northrop/Fort Wayne, Ind.) gives the Express a conference best 6.5 assists per game, while Carter and Adams are also in the top 10.
As a team, the Express will look to extend their regular season conference winning streak in home games to 15, while extending their overall regular season home win streak to 31.
The No. 11 Express men, meanwhile, look to remain on course for at least a share of the OCCAC championship, which would be their first since 2001-02. With three games remaining, that quest continues with a 7 p.m. matchup against the Cougars (8-12, 1-7 OCCAC).
In the first matchup between the two teams, the game saw four ties and 14 lead changes as the Express rallied from an 11 point deficit to get an 84-76 win.
In that game, the Express starting lineup scored all 84 points, led by John Murry (North Central/Indianapolis, Ind.) with 22 and Andy Bachman (North Side/Fort Wayne, Ind.) with 21. Tony Boykins (Loy Norrix/Kalamazoo, Mich.) added 19, Bikramjit Gill (Our Ascension of the Lord/Toronto, Ontario, Canada) had 12 points and 21 rebounds, and Shaakir Lindsey (Teaneck/Teaneck, N.J.) had 10 points and eight assists.
Jordan Marrow led Columbus State with 19 points in that matchup, as well.
Should the Express win their final three games, they would tie No. 2 Cincinnati State for the OCCAC championship. Cincinnati State has one game remaining, and should they slip up in that March 1 contest against Lakeland, it would give the Express a chance at an outright championship.
The Express (21-5, 8-1 OCCAC) enter tomorrow's game as winners of nine out of their last 10. If they win out, it would also give them their best conference finish since 2000-01's 13-1 team.
For the Express, Murry (18.9/game) and Gill (17.4/game) are the conference's third and fourth leading scorers. Gill also remains the conference's top rebounder (13.4/game) and blocked shot leader (2.9/game). Lindsey (7.8/game) also leads the conference in assists.
Notes
Tomorrow's Express doubleheader follows a Lourdes University basketball doubleheader against Aquinas. The Lourdes women will play at 12 p.m., the Lourdes men will play at 2 p.m., the Express women play at 5 p.m. and the Express men play at 7 p.m.
All games will be in the Student Health and Activities Center (SHAC) on the Toledo campus of Owens.
After tomorrow's games, the Express have road doubleheaders at Cuyahoga Community College (Feb. 26) and Sinclair Community College (March 1). Following that, they enter district tournament play.
You can watch both games for free streamed online live and archived by visiting www.ihigh.com/owenscc