By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information

Dayton, Ohio---Xavier Cochran (Huron/Ypsilanti, Mich.) scored 24 points for the Owens Community College men's basketball team in an 82-75 loss to No. 4 Sinclair Community College on the road this afternoon.

Early on, it appeared as if Owens would dominate the game as they scored 14 of the game's first 18 points. Just under eight minutes into the game, Derrik Jamerson Jr. (Cornerstone/Pontiac, Mich.) hit the fifth three pointer of the game for Owens to make it 22-14.

Aside from a three pointer from Cochran with 7:13 left, the Owens lead hovered just under double digits until Sinclair went on an 8-0 run to trim the lead to just one with 3:43 left.

The two teams then exchanged baskets until Owens got a three point play from Cochran and a layup from Jamerson on an assist from Cochran to close the half with a 41-35 lead.

Following halftime, Sinclair opened the second half by scoring the first 11 points. Then, a layup from Manny Powell gave the home team a 53-44 lead four minutes into the half. The lead was up to 10 two minutes later following a free throw from Akiean Frederick. 

At that point, Owens started slowly chipping away at the deficit, eventually leading to a pair of free throws from Cochran that cut it down to two with 6:21 left.

Following a three pointer from Sinclair's Marcellous Washington, Dae'Shawn Jackson (Springfield/Springfield, Ohio) answered with a three pointer of his own to pull Owens back within two.

On the next possession, Jamerson grabbed a defensive rebound and dished to Jackson, who handed it off to Cochran for a game tying layup with 4:03 left.

Sinclair's Reshardd Harris, who had a game-high 27 points, responded with a layup to give his team the lead back, but Owens produced five straight points on a layup from Charles Penn III (Macomb Dakota/Detroit, Mich.) and a three pointer from Ty'Rese Searles (Cornerstone/Pontiac, Mich.) to take a three point lead.

After Sinclair's Steven Perriere produced an offensive rebound and second chance bucket to trim the Owens lead to one, Penn had a chance at a layup for Owens on the other end, but slipped in the lane, which led to a turnover and a fast break layup for Harris on the other end.

Cochran followed by missing a jumper and Sinclair followed by closing the game with six straight made free throws. It capped a 10-0 run to finish off Owens as Sinclair improved to 12-0 overall and 3-0 in Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) play.

Cochran, who started the game 7-for-7 from the field, finished 8-for-12 overall, including a 3-for-3 mark from three point range. He also went 5-for-6 from the foul line and added 10 points, five assists and one steal.

Jamerson Jr. added 18 points, six rebounds and three assists, while Searles had 13 points, a team-high six assists and three rebounds. Jackson chipped in nine points, four assists and three steals.

Two key areas of today's game came in the paint and off turnovers, where Sinclair outscored Owens 48-24 and 22-12, respectively. This came despite Owens producing one more offensive rebound than Sinclair (11-10).

Neither team got much bench scoring as they combined for 14 points, although one area both teams excelled in was from the foul line as Sinclair finished 18-for-22 while Owens was 12-for-14.

Elsewhere, Owens turned the ball over 17 times compared to just 11 for Sinclair, who got 19 points from Frederick, 13 from Washington and 11 from Powell in addition to the 27 from Harris. Washington added a team-high nine rebounds, and Powell had a game-high 10 assists and five steals.

With the loss, Owens is now 5-10 overall and 0-2 in OCCAC play. They will be back in action on Dec. 30 at Muskegon Community College.