Express Fall Late to Bobcats

Photo by Justin Hardman
Photo by Justin Hardman

By Chris Schmidbauer, Sports Information Director

Toledo, OH --  In a tight contest on Wednesday evening, the Owens Men's Basketball program lost a close ball game to Bryant & Stratton 81-76. 

The Express jumped out to an early 10 point advantage in the first half at 16-6 after a Jaelin Ferrell three point basket at 15:34 mark of the first half. The Bobcats would trim the deficit to single digits before another Express run pushed their lead back to double digits. Owens would lead 30-18 in with 9:23 in the opening half after a Jamal Whiteside layup.

The Express would still be leading by 12 at the 6:35 mark of the first before the Bobcats would make a run. Bryant & Stratton would finish the first half on a 22-12 run to trim the deficit to just two at the break at 51-49, with the Express still in the lead. 

The Bobcats would start the second half on an 11-4 run to take a five point lead at 60-55. The two teams would trade baskets throughout much of the half. Bryant & Stratton would never trail tin the half after taking the lead, but they were not able to pull away from the Express either. The Bobcats would never lead by more than seven points during the second. 

The Express would actually come back to tie the game late at 76-76 on a Jamal Whiteside three pointer. A layup by De'Ray Menefield would put the Bobcats back up on the next possession. A lone free throw by Davonte Craven put the visitors up by three. The two team's would struggle to score, with Owens missing their last four shots of the game. A pair of free throws would ice the game in favor of the Bobcats for the five point victory. 

Jaelin Ferrell led all scorers with 22 points in the contest. He also finished with seven rebounds. Alontay Gould also finished with 22 points on 8-14 shooting. He was 4-6 from three as well. Gould also finished with five rebounds and four assists. Jamal Whiteside had nine points of the bench for the Express and three assists. 

As a team Owens shot 44.8% from the floor but the team struggled in the second half. After shooting 56.7% in the first half, the Express shot just 32.1% in the second half. 

The Bobcats were led in scoring by De'Sean Reed, who had 21 points, and Brandon Barron with 20 points. 

With the loss, Owens is now 4-7 overall and 0-1 in the OCCAC. 

The Express will play next this Saturday when they welcome in Mercyhurst NE. The men's game is scheduled to tip off at 3 PM.