CEDARVILLE, Ohio - The Central State University basketball season for 2011-12 ended Friday in the semi-finals of the Ohio Independent Championship (OIC) tournament at Cedarville University’s Callen Athletic Center.
Coach Donte Jackson’s Marauders ended the season with a 4-point loss to the Walsh University Cavaliers, 77-73, to finish 19-9. For Coach Sheba Harris’ Lady Marauders, the 15-12 year came to an end at the hand of the Cedarville Lady Yellow Jackets by a 75-67 score.
The Marauders’ 3:00 p.m. game started slowly with 17:02 on the clock before Walsh broke the ice for a 2-0 lead. The Cavaliers built a 9-point lead midway through the first period and led by as much as 10 with 1:45 to play before Central State cut the lead to 3 on a pair of three-pointers by Phillip Gates and a dunk by LeDonte Body set the 36-33 halftime score.
In the second half the Marauders took the early lead and led by as much as three before Walsh tied the game for the seventh time at 54 with 7:15 on the clock and went ahead to stay, leading by as much as 7 before the Marauders brought the score to the 77-73 final.
Gerald Campbell led the Marauders with 26 points and 14 rebounds. He hit 10 of 18 field goals, including 1 of 3 from three-point range, and 5 of 6 free throws. Greg Rice was the only other Marauder in double figures with 20 points on 7 of 18 shooting (2 of 5 three-pointers) and 4 of 5 free throws.
The top seeded Lady Yellow Jackets took the early lead against the Lady Marauders and built a 9-point lead midway through the first half and led 24-25 with 7:15 when the Lady Marauders went on a 14-7 scoring run to bring the game to within 2 points as 31-29 at the half.
In the second half, the Lady Marauders remained close early in the second half and led briefly at 46-45 at the 11:55 mark. As the game progressed, Cedarville built a 13 point lead at 67-54 with 2 minutes to play and the Lady Marauders could come no closer than the 8 point final margin.
For the Lady Marauders Iniquia Snell led all scorers with 20 points hitting 9 of 21 field goals and 3 of 4 free throws. Shakeira Lang was the only other of the Lady Marauders in double figures with 10 pints from 2 of 5 three-pointers and 4 of 4 free throws.
Tanija Beasley and Tajha Walker controlled the boards with 9 rebounds each, and each scored 6 points. Laura Longmire also scored 6 points and had 5 rebounds. Ashley Spencer grabbed 7 rebounds and scored 4 points.