Edmonds and Marquette Come Through In Clutch As Express Pick Up First 20 Win Season Since 2006-07

Freshman guard Jay Marquette finished with 12 points, and came through with six big points late in the second half to give the Express the lead. Photo by Seth Foley
Freshman guard Jay Marquette finished with 12 points, and came through with six big points late in the second half to give the Express the lead. Photo by Seth Foley

Game Leaders

Owens Community College
Pts: Justin Edmonds - 20
Reb: James Kelly - 11
Ast: Kelvin Clark - 4
Edison State C.C.
Pts: Bananzer, Jacob - 17
Reb: Tingle, Nick - 14
Ast: Cole, Lamont - 5

Team Stats

Owens Community College
Edison State C.C.

Field Goals

(27-64)
(23-58)

Field Goal %

42.2%
39.7%

Rebounds

40
39

Assists

14
13

Turnovers

15
16

Pts off Turnovers

15
16

2nd Chance Pts

16
11

Pts in the Paint

30
26

Fastbreak Pts

0
0

Bench Pts

32
29
full stats
Posted: Feb 22, 2012

By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information

Piqua, OH---With the game tied at 65 and 1:27 remaining, freshman guard Justin Edmonds hit a three from the right wing to help give the Express a 69-66 win over Edison Community College on the road tonight.

Following that, Edmonds hit one of two at the line to stretch the lead to four. Then, after Edison missed two shots, they fouled Edmonds. Edison called two timeouts to ice him, but he hit the first free throw. After missing the second, Jordan Basinger fouled Edison's Eric Beckstedt, who made the first free throw. On the second attempt, Beckstedt purposely missed it, but James Kelly blocked a final field goal attempt for Edison.

Edison, who hadn't won a conference game heading into tonight's game, had played the Express close for most of the game. They held a 49-47 lead with 13:14 left, a 55-50 lead with 10:54 remaining and a 58-54 lead with 7:56 remaining.

With his team down 58-54, Jay Marquette made a three pointer to bring the Express within one. Then, he completed a three point play on the next trip down the court to put his team up 60-58 with 7:09 remaining.

The game would then remain close until Edmonds finished Edison off.

Edmonds led the Express in scoring with 20 points, while adding five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Kelly produced his 18th double-double of the season with 17 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks, one steal and one assist. Marquette was the third Express player in double figures with 12 points, four rebounds, two steals and two assists.

Kelly now has 55 blocks this season, which breaks the single season record previously held by Rodney Hughes, who had 54 in the 2000-01 season.

Edison was led by Jacob Bananzer, who finished with 17 points and seven rebounds, while Beckstedt had 12, Lamont Cole had 11 and Kyle Duncan had 10. Nick Tingle had 14 rebounds.

The Express finished 27-for-64 overall from the field, 8-for-23 from three point range and 7-for-11 from the foul line. Edison finished 23-for-58 overall, 9-for-18 from three point range and 11-for-20 from the foul line.

Owens outrebounded Edison 40-39, while also outperforming them in assists (14-13), turnovers (15-16), blocks (4-3), steals (10-9), points in the paint (30-26), second chance points (16-11) and bench points (32-29).

The Express moved to 20-10 overall and 7-5 in the OCCAC. Tonight's win gave the Express their first 20 win season since the 2006-07 season, and helped continue a fine turnaround season from last year's 10-21 finish.

Edison falls to 7-17 overall and 0-10 in the OCCAC.

The Express men will now wait and see who they play in the NJCAA Region XII tournament. The quarterfinal games will be held at the home site of the higher seeds on March 6, while the semifinals and finals will be held at Owens on March 9-10.