By Chris Schmidbauer, Sports Information Director

Toledo, OH -- The Owens Men's basketball team would lead by as many as 23 points en route to a 102-89 win over #15 ranked Columbus State on Saturday afternoon. 

The Express would head to the locker room up 15 points at 45-30, thanks in large part to tremendous shooting from beyond the arc. The Express would shoot 64.7% from three in the first half and 62.5% from the field to build a double digit lead at the break. Jordan Grayson shot 5-6 from beyond the arc in the first half to lead the Express with 15 points. 

The Cougars would start the second half on fire. Columbus State would start the half on a 10-2 run to cut the Express lead to just seven less than three minutes into the half. The rally would continue by the visitors 15-5 run after a timeout to take the lead temporarily at 55-52 after a N'Keeley Elmore layup with 14:05 to play in the game.

Owens would retake the lead moments later after three free throws due to a technical foul and a personal foul. The Express would push their lead back to eight, after a 6-0 run all from the free throw line. A King Goss three thirty seconds later would put the Express back up double digits and the Exptess would end up running their lead back to as high as 23 in the second half. Owens would go on to claim the 13 point victory and hand the Cougars their first league loss of the season.

The Express were led in scoring by Jordan Grayson and King Goss. Both players scored 22 points, and both did most of their work from behind the long line. Grayson finished the game 5-10 from the field and 7-7 from the free throw line. Goss would shoot 6-9 from beyond the arc and 7-12 from the field for the game. He also grabbed five rebounds. 

Three other players finished in double figures scoring wise. Jamal Whiteside would score 16 points off the bench, going 8-10 at the charity stripe. He also had a team high seven assists. Reggie Robinson would finish with 15 points on an efficient 5-7 shooting from the field. Jaelin Ferrell would score 11 points, due mainly to a 5-7 effort from the foul line. He also grabbed five rebounds. Jacob Cousino was the team leader in rebounds with six. 

Owens shot 51.5% (28-54) from the floor and 53.6% (15-28) from three. Owens also shot 77.5% (31-40) from the free throw line as well. Columbus State would shoot 40.3% (27-67) from the field for the game. They were led in scoring by N'Keeley Elmore. 

The Express are now back to .500 at 12-12 and they are 4-3 in the OCCAC. Columbus State falls to 12-6 overall and 5-1 in the OCCAC. 

The Express would be on the road this coming Wednesday at Lorain. Tip off is scheduled for 7:30 PM from the Ewing Activity Center in Elyria.