By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Piqua, Ohio---Five players reached double figures, led by Xavier Cochran's (Huron/Ypsilanti, Mich.) double-double, to lead the Owens Community College men's basketball team to an 85-74 win over Edison Community College tonight.
Cochran scored five points early, including a two-handed slam via a fast break, to give Owens an 11-0 lead early. Following that, Edison started to chip away at the lead and eventually took a 36-33 lead with 3:29 left in the first half.
For Owens, however, Brian Walker (Huron/Ypsilanti, Mich.) tied the game with a 3-pointer, which was followed by another 3-pointer from Derrik Jamerson Jr. (Cornerstone/Pontiac, Mich.) and another dunk from Cochran to put Owens up five with 2:28 left.
Jamerson buried a 3-pointer in the final minute to allow Owens to take a 47-40 lead into the break.
In the first half, Edison outscored Owens 26-16 in the paint, but Owens created 16 points off turnovers.
Ty'Rese Searles (Cornerstone/Pontiac, Mich.) and Dae'Shawn Jackson (Springfield/Springfield, Ohio) combined for five points early in the second half to give Owens a 52-40 lead with 17:48 left, but Edison responded with a 14-1 run and trailed by one with just over 15 minutes left.
Owens, however, never relinquished the lead in the second half. Up one, Jackson buried a 3-pointer and a jumper to push the lead to six with just over 14 minutes left. Four minutes later, Jamerson Jr. hit another 3-pointer to push the lead to 10.
Down the stretch, Owens led by as many as 12 on two occasions followed a layup from Searles with 6:49 left and a layup from Walker with 6:20 left. Following that, Edison didn't get closer than eight.
Cochran totaled 20 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block on 7-for-17 shooting. He made 2-for-4 from 3-point range and all four of his free throws.
Searles chipped in 17 points and five rebounds on 6-for-10 shooting, and Walker added 17 points and six rebounds off the bench. Jamerson Jr. had 12 points, nine rebounds and a team-high three blocks. Jackson was the final player in double figures for Owens with 11, while adding a team-high five assists.
As a team, Owens made 11-for-33 from 3-point range and out-rebounded Edison 50-43 despite getting outscored 44-26 in the paint. Walker led Owens to a 21-5 advantage in bench scoring.
For Edison, Jalen Hearn had 23, Malik Thurman had 15, Cody May had 14 and Damion Cook had 10. Cook and Chris Landrum each had eight rebounds.
Owens is now 10-9 overall and 3-2 in Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC play. They will travel to Clark State Community College on Saturday for a 3 p.m. non-conference matchup on Saturday.
Notes
Cochran's double-double was his third this year, and all have occurred in the past five games. He also didn't have a turnover tonight for the first time this year.
Walker scored in double figures for the third straight game. He is averaging 19 per game over that stretch.
Searles has reached double figures in 13 of the past 14 games, including eight straight.
Jackson is averaging 12.5 points over the past two games after failing to score in double figures in the previous eight games.
Jamerson Jr. fell one rebound shy of his third double-double this year.