By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Toledo, Ohio---The Owens Community College men's and women's basketball programs will host Sinclair Community College at home in the SHAC on Saturday afternoon.
At 1 p.m., the No. 10 Express women's basketball team will take on a Sinclair team that is 12-12 overall and 4-2 in the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC).
The Tartan Pride have three of the top 10 scorers in OCCAC play, led by O'sha Owens with 18.5 per game. Breanna Ball and Jenae Curtiss each check in at 12.5 per game in OCCAC play. Curtiss also averages 8.3 rebounds, while Owens averages 6.7 rebounds. Both are good for top 10 in the conference.
Meanwhile, the Express are led by the conference's third leading scorer Kamilah Carter (Pioneer/Ann Arbor, Mich.), who checks in at 20.6 per game. She has 388 points this year, which puts her four points away from moving past Sarah Johnson (391 points, 2004-05 season) for 30th place on the single season scoring list.
Carter's teammate, Eboni Adams (Maple Heights/Cleveland, Ohio) is sixth in the OCCAC in scoring at 14.6 per game.
Other OCCAC leaders for the Express are Ashley Tunstall (Huber Heights Wayne/Dayton, Ohio), who is sixth in rebounding at 8.4 per game and Paige Wright (Northrop/Fort Wayne, Ind.), who is first in assists per game at 6.6/contest. Carter is also fifth in the OCCAC in assists at 4.2 per game and eighth in the OCCAC in steals per game with 2.2 per contest.
This will be the first meeting between these two teams this year. Last year, the Express defeated Sinclair 81-61 at home on Jan. 12 and 71-55 on the road Feb. 9. In the Jan. 12 game, Adams produced nine points, 11 assists, six rebounds, five steals and two blocks off the bench. She is the only returning sophomore who played against Sinclair last year.
The Express also defeated Sinclair 88-65 on a neutral site in the district semifinals last year.
The Express are currently 18-2 overall and 4-1 in OCCAC play. With last night's Edison win over No. 14 Cincinnati State, the Express are back in sole possession of first place. Sinclair, at 4-2, is in a three way tie for second place in the loss column.
The game has added meaning for the Express. After seeing their 18-game win streak snapped in their last game against Columbus State, the Express dropped four spots in the national poll. Since that poll came out, though, four of the teams ahead of them have lost and, with a win, the Express could climb back up a few spots in next week's poll. Plus, more importantly, the Express will look to remain in sole possession of first place in the conference.
The No. 13 Express men's basketball team, meanwhile, has won six straight games heading into tomorrow's 3 p.m. matchup against No. 17 Sinclair Community College.
They will take on a vastly improved Tartan Pride team, who is 18-5 overall and 3-3 in OCCAC play. Richard Weaver, who joined the Tartan Pride at midseason, is the team's leading scorer in OCCAC play at 17.3 per contest, which is good for fourth in the conference. Trace Cureton (14.5/game) is 10th in scoring and Westley Parr (12.7/game) is 14th in scoring.
On the other side, the Express have five players averaging double figure scoring in OCCAC play. John Murry (North Central/Indianapolis, Ind.) is the conference's second leading scorer at 20.4 per game, followed by Bikramjit Gill (Our Ascension of the Lord/Toronto, Ontario, Canada) at 16.2 per contest, which is good for seventh in the conference.
Other Express scoring leaders are Andy Bachman (North Side/Fort Wayne, Ind.), who averages 12 points per game (17th in OCCAC), Shaakir Lindsey (Teaneck/Teaneck, N.J.), who averages 11.8 per game (19th in OCCAC) and Tony Boykins (Loy Norrix/Kalamazoo, Mich.), who averages 11.2 per game (20th in OCCAC).
The game will also see a matchup of two of the conference's top three rebounders. Gill comes in averaging 15.8 per game (best in the conference), while Weaver averages 9.7 per game, which is third. Bachman's six rebounds per game puts him 13th.
Lindsey is the conference's second leading assist man at 6.8 per game, just 0.2 behind Orlando Berry of Cincinnati State. Deiontay Walters of Sinclair averages five assists per game, which puts him in a tie for third in the OCCAC.
Gill also averages a conference best 3.8 blocks per game.
Last year, the Express defeated Sinclair 105-93 at home on Jan. 12 and 98-73 on the road Feb. 9. In the Jan. 12 game, Boykins chipped in 17 points while Bachman had 13 points off the bench. Markese Allen (Crockett/Detroit, Mich.), another returning sophomore, averaged eight assists per game against Sinclair last year, including 10 in the Feb. 9 contest. Boykins also hit double figures in scoring on Feb. 9 with 12.
While they've won six in a row, the Express (18-4, 5-0 OCCAC) have also won 12 of their past 13. They have risen to 13th in the nation during that stretch and look to remain in sole possession of first place in the conference with a win tomorrow.
After winning four in a row, the Tartan Pride have lost their last two games by a combined 10 points on the road. All but one of their conference games have been on the road so far.
Make sure to follow OwensExpress.com, where we will post box scores immediately following each game. You can also follow Twitter (@owensexpress) for live game updates throughout the night, and we'll post recaps after the game at OwensExpress.com.
You can catch both games via live web stream for free tomorrow. Just stop by www.ihigh.com/owenscc for links to all upcoming, and past Owens home events