By Chris Schmidbauer, Sports Information Director

Toledo, OH -- Through a nip and tuck game, both Mott and Owens found themselves tied at 71-71 with a little over a minute to play. But two free throws from Mott's Henry Speight put the Bears ahead for good to claim a four point win for the visitors from Flint, Michigan. 

The Express had the lead at intermission at 41-35, with the Express leading by as much as 10 in the first half. They shot 50% from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes and also were 11-13 from the charity stripe. Unfortunately for Owens, the Bears closed the gap pretty quickly, trailing by just one early in the second half. 

Mott would take their biggest lead of the game at five with 13:27 to play in the game, but the teams would trade the lead back and forth the rest of the game. There were five lead changes over that span and the score would be tied four times as well. 

The Express offense would struggle from the field in the second half. They shot just 34.3% from the field during the second half and finished shooting 36.2% for the game. Conversely, Mott shot 45.7% in the second half and finished the game shooting 44.1% for the game.

Owens was lead once again by freshman Gabe Simpson. He finished with 18 points on 7-17 shooting from the field. He also had a team high five assists. Jamiri Bennett finished in double figures as well, scoring 14 points on 5-9 shooting. The sophomore was knocked down two three pointers. Freshman DJ Tyree also finished in double digits in scoring with 11 points. Freshman Kobe Wright finished the night with the team lead in rebounds at 10.

Mott was lead in scoring by sophomore Marcus Cole. He finished with a game high 22 points on 10-17 shooting from the field. He also pciked up nine rebounds on the evening. Three other Bears were in double figures in scoring: Henry Speight (16 points), Terrance Sewell (12 points) and Jordan Roland (11 points). 

The Express are now 3-3 on the season after the loss. Mott is now 4-2, having now won four straight games. 

The men are in action again this Wednesday against Cuyahoga Community College on the road for the first time since November 10. Tip off is at 6:30 PM. 

Notes

- Freshman Kobe Wright got his first start of his career on Monday night. He played a career high 33 minutes.

- This is the first time Owens has played Mott since the 2014-2015 season. They played a home and home series with the Bears. The Express won both games that season. They won on December 3, 2014 84-79 in double overtime. The two teams played another overtime game on December 30, 2014, which Owens won 94-87