By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information

Springfield, Ohio---Derrik Jamerson Jr. (Cornerstone/Pontiac, Mich.) hit two big, back-to-back 3-pointers down the stretch in the second half to spur the Owens Community College men's basketball team to a 67-57 win over Clark State Community College on the road this afternoon.

With the win, Owens improved to 21-8 overall and 11-4 in Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) play. They will host Cincinnati State Technical and Community College at 3 p.m. on Saturday in the regular season finale.

With his team down two following a Derrick McGowan layup with 9:22 left in the game, Jamerson buried back-to-back 3-pointers from the left corner to give Owens a 50-46 lead.

Moments later, Rico Stafford (Lima Senior/Lima, Ohio) and Shondell Jackson (Warren Harding/Warren, Ohio) had fast break dunks on back-to-back possessions, and then Jackson made a 3-pointer from the right wing to give Owens a 58-48 lead with 4:21 left.

Following that, Clark State wasn't able to get any closer than seven, while Owens stretched its lead to as many as 10 several times.

Jamerson, who made four 3-pointers to break Jeff Massey's single season 3-point field goal record, finished with a game-high 19 points while adding six rebounds and two blocks. Stafford added 14 points, and Jackson had 12 points and three steals. In addition to those three, Roy Hatchett Jr. (Glenville/Cleveland, Ohio) contributed seven points, a game-high seven assists and three steals.

Clark State (1-24, 0-16 OCCAC) was led by Isaiah Boyd, who totaled 16 points, six rebounds and three assists. Sean Johnson added 11 points and Thorne Stephens had eight points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

Earlier in the game, Clark State scored the first six points, and led until Ty'Rese Searles (Cornerstone/Pontiac, Mich.) made a 3-pointer to tie things up at 12 with 10:32 left in the first half. From there, the game was either tied or saw Clark State lead until Jackson's free throw gave Owens a 29-28 lead with 18 seconds left.

Vejer Cox of Clark State was fouled by James Grays (Start/Toledo, Ohio) with 0.4 seconds left in the half while attempting a 3-pointer and made two of three to give his team a one-point lead at the break.

Owens had a pair of brief leads early in the second half on a 3-pointer from Jamerson and a layup from Marquevious Wilson (Lima Senior/Lima, Ohio), but Clark State remained in control over the next six minutes.

Stafford's layup with 9:52 left gave Owens its third lead of the half before Clark State scored four straight, including McGowan's layup, with 9:22 left to set up Jamerson's big shots.

NOTES
 
Following today's results in the conference, Owens is now locked into the No. 3 seed in the Region XII District 11 tournament. They will open the tournament by hosting a quarterfinal matchup on March 7 against Clark State. The time will be announced at a later date.

Jamerson has now made 113 3-pointers this year to surpass Jeff Massey's total of 112 from 1991-92. He is also 35 attempted 3-point field goals from breaking that record for most in a season, and he already owns the single game and career records for most made and attempted 3-pointers. In addition, he is on pace to break the single season 3-point field goal percentage record, and he has a chance at the career percentage record.

Aside from the 3-point records, Jamerson now has 932 career points and has a chance at 1,000 career points should Owens make some noise in the postseason.

With today's win, Owens completed the regular season sweep of Clark State after defeating them 87-52 on Jan. 21 at home. 

Owens head coach Dennis Springs returned for today's game after serving a one-game suspension against Lakeland on Wednesday.

Owens has now won five of its past six games and 12 of its past 15.