By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information

Springfield, Ohio---The Owens Community College men's basketball team used an 18-4 second half run to pick up an 82-63 win over Clark State Community College on the road today.

The win was the fifth straight for Owens, who has outscored its opponents by a margin of 67 over that stretch.

Early on, both teams went back and forth, capped by a jumper from Clark State's Isaiah Williams with 14:58 left in the first half to tie the game at seven apiece. Owens answered with a 9-0 run that was started by a 3-pointer from Derrik Jamerson Jr. (Cornerstone/Pontiac, Mich.), continued with back-to-back buckets from Ty'Rese Searles (Cornerstone/Pontiac, Mich.) and finished with a layup from Charles Penn III (Macomb Dakota/Detroit, Mich.).

Moments later, Xavier Cochran's (Huron/Ann Arbor, Mich.) layup pushed the Owens lead to 10. Then, a jumper from Jamerson and a pair of free throws from Dae'Shawn Jackson (Springfield/Springfield, Ohio) made it 24-11 with 7:55 remaining.

Both teams then alternated baskets before Clark State went on a 10-2 run to trim the deficit to three with 2:45 left. Cochran stopped the run with a pair of free throws, and Owens got back-to-back baskets from Penn III and Searles to take a 37-30 lead with 1:33 left.

Clark State, however, closed the half on a 5-0 run and only trailed by two at the break.

In the first 20 minutes, Searles and Jamerson Jr. had nine points apiece on 8-for-13 shooting, while Penn III chipped in eight points. Jamerson Jr. also had seven rebounds during that stretch.

Dilyn Good (Springfield/Holland, Ohio) opened the second half with five straight points, and Cochran completed a 3-point play with 16:39 left to give Owens a 47-37 lead. Four minutes later, a 10 point Owens lead was trimmed in half before a crucial turning point in the game occurred.

Cochran received an outlet pass and attempted a fast break dunk, but was intentionally fouled. He made both free throws, and its started an 18-4 run by Owens that opened up a 67-48 lead with 8:13 left.

Andre Foster (Trotwood-Madison/Dayton, Ohio) picked up a defensive rebound and went the distance for a dunk to bump the lead to 25 with 4:07 left. La'Tre Lane (Marshall Public/Albion, Mich.) drained a 3-pointer a minute later for the game's largest lead, 28.

Clark State's JaMichael Blanton scored nine points in the final 2:30 to help his team keep the final margin below 20.

Cochran and Searles each scored nine points in the second half alone.

Overall, Searles led Owens with 18 points on 8-for-12 shooting. Cochran added 14 points on 8-for-11 shooting from the foul line, and Penn III chipped in 14 points on 7-for-9 shooting off the bench. Jamerson Jr. totaled 12 points, a season-high 14 rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocks. He finished 5-for-8.

Jackson, playing in front of a hometown crowd, had nine points, eight assists and five steals.

As a team, Owens shot 32-for-66 (48.5 percent), buoyed by an 18-for-34 (52.9 percent) total in the second half.

Clark State fell to 6-11 with the loss. They were led in scoring by Isaiah Williams, who had 18. Blanton added 16, while Yemi Sholesi had 12 points and 10 rebounds. Marques Greene had 10 assists.

With the win, Owens improved to 11-9 overall. They will host Lakeland Community College next Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

Notes

Searles, who has nine straight games in double digit scoring, produced his third straight game with at least 18 points. In those games, he is 20-for-32 from the field.

Jamerson's double-double was his third of the season.

Beginning next Wednesday, Owens begins a six game homestand.