By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Toledo, OH---Justin Edmonds scored a career high 32 points to lead the Express men's basketball team past Sinclair Community College 88-85 in the SHAC today.
The freshman guard scored nine points early as the Express jumped out to a 23-7 lead with 15:07 remaining in the first half. However, while the Express never lost the lead in the first half, Sinclair cut the lead to one at 45-44 when Aaron Valerio hit a three with 55 seconds remaining in the half. That would remain the score until halftime.
Twenty three seconds into the second half, Sinclair took their first lead of the game on a layup by Jabriel Coaston. The Express then went on an 11-2 run to seize a 56-48 lead with 17:03 remaining. The Tartan Pride answered back with a 9-2 run to cut the Express lead to one at 58-57 with 14:07 remaining.
The Express clung to a 77-76 lead with 3:06 remaining before Jordan Basinger and Jerron Jamerson each hit two free throws to stretch the lead to five. Edmonds then hit one of two at the line to make it an 82-76 lead. Sinclair would cut the lead to one with under a minute remaining, but Edmonds hit a clutch jumper just inside the three point line to give Owens an 85-82 lead with 11 seconds left.
On the inbounds pass, Edmonds stole the ball, got fouled, and made one of two free throws to give Owens a four point lead with seven seconds left. Following a three pointer by Coaston, Edmonds hit two more free throws with two seconds left to give Owens an 88-85 lead. Following that, another bad inbounds pass by Sinclair led to a steal by Jay Marquette, who threw the ball in the air to run out the clock and end the game.
The Express shot 31-for-71 from the field overall, 8-for-29 from three point range and 18-for-24 from the foul line. Sinclair finished 31-for-63 overall, 9-for-19 from three point range and 14-for-19 from the foul line. Owens had a large advantage on the glass (47-30), including a 20-7 advantage on the offensive glass.
The Express also had more assists (21-19), more points in the paint (36-28) and more second chance points (16-9). Sinclair held advantages in turnovers (15-20), points off turnovers (21-18) and bench points (28-17).
Aside from his 32 points, Edmonds finished with four assists, three steals and two rebounds in 37 minutes. He was 10-for-20 from the field overall, 5-for-12 from three point range and 7-for-10 from the foul line. It was a season high in points for Edmonds, who has one other 30 point game this season (Dec. 3 vs Glen Oaks), and 12 games of 20 or more points.
Basinger and Jamerson also came up big for the Express as they each had double-doubles. Basinger pulled down a career high 15 rebounds to go along with 14 points and two assists in 29 minutes. He finished 6-for-8 from the field and 2-for-3 from the foul line.
Jamerson finished with 10 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block. He led the team with five offensive rebounds, while his overall rebounding total and his offensive rebounding total were both season highs.
Kelvin Clark added nine points and three assists, while making all four of his free throw attempts. Marquette finished with eight points, six rebounds, five assists, two blocks and one steal in 24 minutes.
The second leading scorer for the Express, James Kelly, only played nine minutes, but contributed six points and six rebounds.
With the win, the Express improve to 18-9 overall and 5-4 in the OCCAC. It is their best season since 2006-07 when they won 22 games. Sinclair falls to 13-11 overall and 1-6 in the OCCAC.
The Express will be back in action in the SHAC on Wednesday as they take on Lakeland Community College beginning at 7:30 p.m. It is the final regular season home game for Owens.
NOTES: At halftime of the men's game, the Express athletic department honored all student-athletes who achieved a 3.0 or higher during the fall semester.