By Chris Schmidbauer, Sports Information Director

Toledo, OH -- With a strong start t the new calendar year, the Owens Men's Basketball program knew they wanted to continue their winning ways. With the way sophomore Marquevious Wilson and freshman Gabe Simpson played Saturday, the team had nothing to worry about. 

Wilson and Simpson would combine for 60 points in the Express's 84-68 win over Columbus State. 

The Express held a slim five point lead of 41-36 at intermission, with Wilson and Simpson combining for 30 points in the first half. Each of the two had 15 points during the first 20 minutes of the ballgame. 

The second half saw the duo contribute again but in different way. Wilson on converted on two shots from the field, knocking down two threes, but he was huge from the free throw line. Wilson was 6-6 from the charity stripe in the second half, and he finished the game a perfect 8-8 from the line. All told he shot 8-13 from the field for 27 points on the afternoon for the Lima native. The point total is Wilson's season high in points. He also finished with 4 steals. 

Simpson's offensive output in the second half could be directly related to his defense. The freshman, from Warren, OH, had seven steals in the game, with most coming in the second half. Those steals led to easy offense at the other end, with Simpson converting on fast break after fast break. He also hit two big threes to help the Express push their lead to double digits. The freshman would finish with 33 points for the game on 13-17 shooting. He, too, was perfect from the free throw line at 4-4. This was the second time Simpson finshed with more than 30 points this season. He scored 37 back on November 15 against Lorain. 

While Simpson and Wilson carried the bulk of the scoring load, two of Owens's post players made an impact as well. 

Justin Sylver finsihed with 10 points on the day, shooting 4-7 from the field. He also had two blocks. 

Rylan Davis did the dirty work on the glass for the Express as well. Davis finished wth a game high 16 rebounds. The total is his highest output on the boards in his career. His previous high was 11 back on November 15 against Lorain. 

The win means that the Owens win streak is now at three in a row, which is the longest they have gone this season. Over the last three games, the Express are winning by an average of 22 points a game. 

With Saturday's win, Owens is now 10-7 overall and they are 4-2 in league play which puts them now a half game ahead of Columbus State in the OCCAC standings. The Cougars fell to 10-6 overall and 4-3 in OCCAC play. 

The Express will head east on Wednesday evening when they get set to take on Lakeland. Tip off is scheduled for 7:30 PM from Kirtland, OH.