By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information

Livonia, Mich.---It was a tale of two halves for the Owens Community College men's basketball team in an 80-72 loss to No. 1 Schoolcraft College on the road today.

For most of the first half, it was Owens that looked unstoppable. After the two teams were knotted at eight apiece with 16:27 left, the Express went on a 25-4 run to take a 33-12 lead with 8:10 left in the half.

The run was capped by a layup from Charles Penn III (Macomb Dakota/Detroit, Mich.)., who had seven points during the run. Furthermore, Derrik Jamerson Jr. (Cornerstone/Pontiac, Mich.) drained a trio of 3-pointers during that stretch.

With 4:32 left, Xavier Cochran (Huron/Ann Arbor, Mich.) made a pair of free throws to give Owens a 41-21 lead. Schoolcraft, however, went on a 17-2 run over the next 4:22 before Cochran's layup with nine seconds left gave his team a 45-38 lead at the half.

Schoolcraft opened the second half on a 7-0 run, capped by a fast break dunk from Ja'Christian Biles to tie the game with 18:03 left. Dilyn Good's (Springfield/Holland, Ohio) tip-in gave Owens the lead back on the next possession, but Schoolcraft went on a 6-0 run to take the lead for the first time.

Dae'Shawn Jackson (Springfield/Springfield, Ohio) drained a 3-pointer with 11:32 left to pull Owens within 55-54. A few minutes later, Cochran hit a pair of free throws to once again pull his team within one with 8:48 remaining.

At that point, Schoolcraft went on a 13-0 run to take a 72-58 lead and seal the game. A 3-pointer from Jamerson Jr. in the left corner ended the run, and Roy Hatchett Jr. (Glenville/Cleveland, Ohio) scored seven points in the final two minutes, but Schoolcraft pulled out an eight point win.

Hatchett Jr. scored 14 points off the bench for Owens to lead the team in scoring. Jamerson Jr. added 13, while Cochran and Penn III each had 11. Cochran led the team in rebounds with eight.

Davon Taylor led Schoolcraft with 19 points and seven rebounds. Anthony Wartley-Fritz and Tyron Hamby each added 13 and Biles had 10.

In the first half, Owens shot 18-for-27 (66.7 percent) from the field. However, in the second half, the team only shot 9-for-37 (24.3 percent) to finish 27-for-64 (42.2 percent) from the field. Schoolcraft, meanwhile, shot 14-for-29 (48.3 percent) in the second half to finished 45.3 percent from the field.

Owens is now 4-7 overall. They will be back in action next weekend when they travel to Jamestown, N.Y. for a pair of games in the Jamestown Post Journal Classic. Action begins with a 6 p.m. game against Jamestown Community College - Cattaraugus Campus on Saturday.

Schoolcraft improved to 7-1 overall with the win today.