By Chris Schmidbauer, Sports Information Director

Toledo, 0H -- After leading by as many as 20 points in the second half, the Owens Men's Basketball team had to hang on late to defeat Hocking 87-80 on Saturday afternoon. The Express would lead 70-50 after a Jaelin Ferrell layup with 8:08 to play in the ball game. 

The Hawks would surge back though, outscoring the Express 30-17 over the remainder of the half. Hocking would get as close as five points, but Owens was able to score just enough to hang on for the seven point victory. 

Owens was paced in scoring by Reggie Robinson, who finished with 18 points on 7-15 shooting from the floor. He also contributed five rebounds. Three other Express players would finish in double figures in scoring. Jaelin Ferrell scored 15 points, while Jordan Grayson added 12 points, making 10 out of 12 free throws. Grayson also had seven rebounds on the afternoon. Jamal Whiteside also had 12 points of the bench for the Express, shooting a perfect 6-6 of six from the charity stripe.

Jacob Cousino led the team in rebounds with nine but Hocking held advantage on the glass at 54-37. Anthony Mills had four assists to lead the Express. 

Owens shot 46.8% from the floor and shot just 25% from beyond the arc. The Express also shot 81.5% from the free throw line. Hocking shot just 35.9% from the floor and 20.8% from three. 

Owens improves to .500 on the season to 10-10. They are also now 2-1 in OCCAC play. Hocking fall to 10-7 overall and they fell to 0-4 in the OCCAC.

The Express will be in action again this Wednesday on the road against Edison State. The Chargers are 10-7 overall and they are undefeated in the conference at 4-0. Tip time is slated 7:30 PM from Piqua, OH.