By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information

Piqua, Ohio---The Owens Community College men's basketball team picked up a hard fought 85-79 win over Edison State Community College on the road Wednesday in a game that featured nine ties and 17 lead changes. 

In doing so, Owens improved to 19-7 overall and 9-3 in Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) play. They will be back in action against Columbus State Community College at 3 p.m. on Saturday in the SHAC. Edison fell to 14-11 overall and 3-10 in OCCAC play.

Dae'Shawn Jackson, who played for Owens last year before transferring to Edison, did his best to help his new team pull off the upset by registering game-highs in points (32), rebounds (12) and blocks (3), while also adding four assists and two steals.

In fact, it was Jackson who hit a layup with 8:53 left to give his team a 68-67 lead. Shondell Jackson (Warren Harding/Warren, Ohio), who scored a team-high 22 points for Owens, answered with a 3-pointer and his team never trailed again, but it wasn't easy.

Following a 3-pointer from Roy Hatchett Jr. (Glenville/Cleveland, Ohio) that put Owens up five with 7:29 left, Edison trimmed its deficit to just a single possession three times. The final time came with 2:45 remaining when Zach Ledbetter drilled a 3-pointer to pull his team within three.

Marquevious Wilson (Lima Senior/Lima, Ohio), who scored all seven of his points in the final five minutes, answered with two free throws on the other end. Jackson made one of two free throws on the ensuing trip down the court for Edison, and two possessions later, Rico Stafford (Lima Senior/Lima, Ohio) converted a fast break layup on an assist from Mason Durden (Whitmer/Toledo, Ohio) to put Owens up six with 53 seconds left and seal the game.

Outside of Jackson's 22 points, the sophomore guard added five rebounds and finished 9-for-16 form the field. Hatchett chipped in 16 points, five assists and two rebounds, and Stafford had 10 points, six rebounds and a game-high five steals. Durden provided a solid presence off the bench with a seven point, five assist, four rebound performance. All nine players for Owens scored at least four points.

For Edison, Ledbetter assisted Jackson with 19 points and six rebounds , while Christopher Landrum had 13 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Nick Thompson chipped in five points and 10 rebounds.

Edison led for nearly the first three minutes of the game, but Hatchett hit back-to-back 3-pointers and Derrik Jamerson Jr. (Cornerstone/Pontiac, Mich.) followed with another 3-pointer to give Owens a 13-8 lead. That margin would represent the largest of the half for either team as the the first 20 minutes featured seven ties and eight lead changes.

Owens opened up a nine-point lead with 13:40 left in the second half following a second chance layup from Jackson, who hit a 3-pointer moments later to give Owens a 63-56 lead. Edison, however, answered with a 10-2 run that was punctuated by Jackson's layup that set up the back-and-forth finish.

Perhaps the biggest key to the game was bench play as Owens held a 38-2 advantage in scoring from the bench, largely due to Jackson's 22 points. On top of that, Owens held an 18-9 advantage in second chance points and an 18-12 advantage in points off turnovers. In fact, Owens forced 19 turnovers on 10 steals, while committing only 11 of their own. 

NOTES

Owens has now won four straight and 10 of its past 12. Wednesday's win gave them a season sweep of Edison following an 83-74 win at home on Jan. 18.

Ty'Rese Searles (Cornerstone/Pontiac, Mich.), who missed the first matchup between the two teams due to injury, had five points and three rebounds last night. On the flip side, Hadith Tiggs, who led Edison with 21 points in the first matchup, was held to eight points on Wednesday.

Jamerson finished just 1-for-2 from 3-point range. His attempt total represented a season-low, although his one make gives him 100 on the season, and he needs 13 more to break the program's single season record. 

Owens is now one win away from its fifth 20 win season over the past six seasons. It would also be the program's 29th in its history.