By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information

Flint, MI---The Express nearly pulled off a shocker on the road before falling to No. 1 and undefeated Mott Community College 74-70 Wednesday night.

A 9-0 run late in the first half allowed Mott to turn a close game into a 36-27 lead at the break. Early in the second half, Mott stretched their lead to 13 with 15:41 remaining. That's when the Express started chipping away.

A technical foul on Mott's leading scorer John Taylor started the rally. Justin Edmonds (Albion/Albion, Mich.) hit one of two free throws following the technical and followed up with a jumper a short time later to cut the deficit to 10.

After a missed layup by Mott's Jacob Perry, Edmonds found Milan Mabry (Bowsher/Toledo, Ohio) in the right corner for a three to cut the deficit to seven. After another missed layup by Mott's Walter Davis, Edmonds came down and pulled up for a three to cut it to a four point deficit. Mott then increased the lead to eight with 9:26 remaining, but the Express didn't give in.

Back-to-back layups by James Kelly (Pioneer/Ann Arbor, Mich.) and Jeremy Weemes (Springfield/Holland, Ohio), and a 3-pointer from the left corner by Taronta Cole Jr. (Gulfport/Gulfport, Miss.) cut Mott's lead to one with 7:26 remaining. The Express would then tie the game twice, the second time coming on an alley-oop dunk from Kelly at the 5:22 mark.

Mott stretched their lead to four over the next few minutes before Jeff Burroughs (Belleville/Ypsilanti, Mich.) converted a three-point play to cut Mott's lead to 66-65 with 1:51 remaining. However, Taylor hit back-to-back shots for Mott, while Edmonds missed a three pointer and Kelly missed a reverse layup on the ensuing possessions. Mott then iced the game in the final minute at the foul line.

Cole harassed Taylor all night defensively. The nation's second leading scorer at over 28 points per game, Taylor only had two points at the half. Despite 17 second half points, those points didn't come easy.

Edmonds also produced 17 second half points to lead the Express in scoring overall. He finished with 19 points, four assists, two rebounds and two steals. Kelly was the other Express player in double figures with 17 points, while adding 11 rebounds and four blocks.

Each team had 14 turnovers, but the Express had 15 assists compared to eight for Mott. The Express held an advantage at the three point line, and Mott had an advantage at the foul line. Owens finished 7-for-26 from 3-point range compared to 3-for-9 for Mott, while Mott finished 23-for-34 from the foul line compared to 15-for-18 from the foul line.

Mott had defeated the Express 88-65 in the SHAC on Nov. 21 and Wednesday night was a vast turnaround from that night's performance for the Express.

Owens shot 24-for-61 overall from the field compared to 25-for-59 for Mott. The Bears held a 17 to 10 advantage on the offensive glass, which led to a 9-2 advantage in second chance points and may have contributed to a 22 to 16 advantage in points in the paint.

While Taylor led Mott with 19, Ralph Eason added 14 and Darryl Marshall had 11.

Owens drops to 9-4 with the loss, while Mott remains undefeated at 9-0. The next action for Owens is Friday in the SHAC at 7:30 p.m. against Grand Rapids Community College.