By Chris Schmidbauer, Sports Information Director
Toledo, OH -- Despite holding a slim lead throughout much of the game, the Owens Men's Basketball team could not hang on, losing to the visiting Triceratops 64-62.
The Express would jump out to a hot start, leading by as much as twelve points midway through the first half at 23-12. Owens would lead 28-16 just a few minutes later, but Tri-C would go on a 14-5 run to close out the half. Owens would head to the locker room up by three points at 33-30.
Owens would lead by four points with 14:39 to play in the game at 42-38. After a brief scoring drought, Ricky Williams's layup would push the Express lead to six points at 44-38. After a pair of Tri-C free throws, Anthony Mills would hit a three with 9:56 to play in the game to put Owens up seven points at 47-40.
Tri-C would go on a 8-0 run to take a slim lead at 48-47 after a layup from James Graham. Dorian Crutcher would hit a three to give Tri-C a four point lead, but Mills would answer back with a three of his. Crutcher would not be denied though, draining another triple with 5:41 to play.
With three minutes to play, the Triceratops led 60-57 with three minutes to play in the ballgame. A pair of free throws from Mills would cut the lead to just one for Tri-C. Jaelin Ferrell would hit a clutch three to give the Express a two point lead again at 62-60. But Graham would hit a layup tying the game up at 62 all with just a little over a minute to play.
The tie would not be broken until there were just 13 seconds remaining when Crutcher would split a pair of free throws.
Owens had an opportunity late, but the Express missed two layups. Time would run out on Owens though, as the Triceratops would walk away with a two point win.
The Express had four players score in double figures. Jaelin Ferrell would lead the way with 15 points, shooting 5-8 from beyond the arc. Anthony Mills would score 13 points and grab six rebounds in the contest. Tyler Brooks would shoot a perfect 5-5 from the field to score 11 points off the bench, which is a season high in points for the sophomore and one off his career high of 12 points. Reggie Robinson also finished with 11 points in the game.
Owens would shoot 41.1% (23-56) from the field for the game and 80% (4-5) from the free throw line. Cuyahoga would shoot 45.5% (25-55) from the floor for the ballgame.
Owens falls back to .500 at 13-13 overall and they fall to 5-4 in the OCCAC. Tri-C improves to 15-8 overall and 4-3 in conference play.
The Express will be in action again this Wednesday against Terra State at the SHAC. Tip off of the second game of the basketball doubleheader is scheduled for 7:30 PM.