By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information

Circleville, Ohio---Edmond Early Jr. (Thurgood Marshall/Dayton, Ohio) hit some big first half shots, while Bikramjit Gill (Our Ascension of the Lord/Toronto, Ontario, Canada) had a big second half overall as the No. 10 Owens men's basketball team defeated Sinclair Community College 104-90 in the Region XII District 11 tournament semifinals.

With the win, the Express advance to Saturday's district championship game. It was the third time they've reached the century mark this year against Sinclair.

Tonight's game saw a back-and-forth first half for the first 13 minutes. With a 30-all game and 7:02 remaining, the Express went on a 7-0 run, highlighted by a pull up jumper and a corner 3-pointer from Early Jr.

The Express then got a lay-up from DeVondre Peoples (Consortium/Detroit, Mich.), another 3-pointer from Early Jr. and a lay-up from John Murry (North Central/Indianapolis, Ind.) to close the half on another 7-0 run. They led 49-40 at the break.

Sinclair cut the deficit to three with 15:09 remaining on a Trace Cureton 3-point play before the Express started to take control of the game. Gill hit back-to-back shots and Murry converted a 3-point play to give the Express a 63-55 lead with 12:46 left.

Later, the Express stretched a 63-57 lead 20 with a 20-6 run, which put them up 83-63 with 7:57 left.

Sinclair trimmed the deficit to as few as 10 multiple times down the stretch, but the Express held strong for the win.

Murry scored a game and career-high 30 points, while adding nine rebounds and three assists. He finished 9-for-17 from the field (2-for-4 from 3-point range) and 10-for-17 from the foul line. His teammate, Gill, added 23 points, a game-high 18 rebounds (seven offensive) and six blocks. He finished 9-for-20 from the field (1-for-1 from 3-point range) and 4-for-5 from the foul line.

Shaakir Lindsey (Teaneck/Teaneck, N.J.) also added 23 points, while chipping in five assists, three steals and two rebounds. Andy Bachman (North Side/Fort Wayne, Ind.) added 11 rebounds, five assists and three points.

Early added 11 points off the bench.

The Express shot 38-for-75 (50.7 percent) from the field, 7-for-18 from the 3-point line (38.9 percent) and 21-for-33 (63.6 percent) from 3-point range. On the other side, Sinclair finished 34-for-83 (41 percent) from the field, 6-for-21 (28.6 percent) from 3-point range and 16-for-25 (64 percent) from the foul line.

The Express out-rebounded Sinclair 52-43, although Sinclair held a 16-14 advantage on the offensive glass. Another interesting stat is Sinclair committing 10 fewer turnovers (16-26) than Owens.

Sinclair was led by Cureton's 23 points, while Richard Weaver added 16 points, 10 rebounds and five assists off the bench. Ramar Hairston (14) and Westley Parr (11) each also scored in double figures.

With the win, the Express will take on No. 1 Cincinnati State Technical and Community College in tomorrow's 5:30 p.m. district championship game. Cincinnati State survived an upset bid by Lakeland in the other semifinal, where they had to hit two free throws with 0.5 seconds left to get a two-point victory.

Notes

Murry captured his first career 30 point game...tomorrow's district championship appearance will be the third straight for Owens, who defeated Lakeland in last year's final after losing to Lakeland in the final the year before...Owens and Cincinnati State split their season series this year