By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information

Circleville, Ohio---Edmond Early Jr. (Thurgood Marshall/Dayton, Ohio) hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the final two minutes to send the No. 14 Owens Community College men's basketball team to a 75-68 win over No. 11 Cincinnati State in tonight's Region XII District 11 semifinal game.

In the first half, Owens took a 34-30 lead after 20 minutes of play. Neither team led by more than six points in the half. The game then remained close for most of the second half, but was controlled by Cincinnati State until the final two minutes.

With Owens down 66-61 and 2:05 left, Darren Groves (Thurgood Marshall/Dayton, Ohio) hit one of two at the foul line to pull his team within four. On the other end, James Kilpatrick missed a layup, Shaakir Lindsey (Teaneck/Teaneck, N.J.) grabbed the rebound in traffic, pushed it up court and dished to Early Jr. on the left wing, who hit a 3-pointer to pull Owens within one with 1:44 left.

Cincinnati State's Nick Barnes followed with two missed free throws, which gave Owens a chance to take the lead. After a timeout, Lindsey dished to Early Jr., this time on the right wing, for another 3-pointer with 52 seconds left to give Owens its first lead since six minutes into the second half.

Then, after a Grover Anderson missed layup, Early Jr. grabbed a key defensive rebound that set up a second chance tip in by Kenny Jones (Clay/South Bend, Ind.) that put Owens up four with 29 seconds left. Cincinnati State turned the ball over on the ensuing inbounds pass, and Austin Somerfield (Greenville/Greenville, Mich.) converted an easy layup on a pass from Early Jr. to seal the game.

Cincinnati State's Larry Johnson hit a layup with 10 seconds left, but Owens made 3-for-4 from the foul line in the final seconds to come away with its fourth straight trip to the district championship game.

Groves led all scorers with 19 points, while adding 13 rebounds (five offensive), two assists and two blocks. He scored 19 of the team's 21 points off the bench, with Justin Baker (Cathedral/Indianapolis, Ind.) scoring the other two.

Aside from Groves, four others reached double figures for Owens. John Murry (North Central/Indianapolis, Ind.) added 14, Early Jr. had 13, Somerfield had 10 and Lindsey had 10. Somerfield added nine rebounds, and Lindsey added six rebounds and five assists.

Barnes led Cincinnati State with 16 points, while Anderson added 12 and Kilpatrick added 10. Anderson finished a perfect 10-for-10 from the foul line.

Despite turning the ball over 12 more times than Cincinnati State (20-8), Owens converted 30-for-63 (47.6 percent) from the field. Prior to Early Jr.'s two late 3-pointers, though, Owens was only 4-for-22 from long range.

With the win, Owens partially avenged a loss in last year's district championship game to Cincinnati State at the buzzer. This year's Owens team will battle Lakeland Community College at 4:30 p.m. tomorrow in the Region XII District 11 title game. It is the fourth straight year Owens has made the title game.

Notes

With tonight's win, Owens head coach Dave Clarke picked up his 100th career victory. He is 100-30 in his almost four-year career.

Lakeland defeated Sinclair Community College 99-66 in tonight's first semifinal.

This will be the second time in the past three years Owens has met Lakeland for the district title. Owens defeated Lakeland 99-84 two years ago.