|
|
Results 2009 - 2010
|
| Date |
Opponent |
Results |
| 3/4/2010 | Columbia State at Columbia, TN | 54-68 Loss | By BRYAN GRISHAM
CSCC Sports Information Director
COLUMBIA - The final curtain fell on the 2009/2010 season for the Cleveland State Cougars basketball team in the second round of the TCCAA/NJCAA Region VII Basketball Tournament on Thursday afternoon fin Columbia.. The Cougars put a first half scare into the host and top seeded Columbia State Chargers, but fell in the end by a final score of 68-54.
The Cougars jumped on the much bigger Chargers to start the game with a 15-5 run as Jesse Taylor converted a four-point play and Tony Bates added a long range bomb to the cause.
But from there, the Chargers righted the ship and slowly chipped away at the Cougar lead. O'Neal Braden and Darius Roper nailed back to back 3's for the Chargers as the home team took the lead at the five minute mark of the first half and would never give it back, leading 33-26 at the break.
The Cougars stayed within striking distance for much of the second half as Taylor's third trey of the night and a nice driving layup from Willie Smith cut the lead to only seven points midway through the half. Devin Boyd continued his good play for the Cougars with a 3-pointer and a pair of layups, but it would not be enough on this night as the Chargers finished off the win to move into the semifinals on Saturday.
Boyd paced the Cougars (13-15) with 20 points in the game while Willie Smith added 18. Braden led the Chargers (21-4) with 19 points.
"I was extremely proud of the effort of my guys tonight, they played their hearts out, but we just lost to a better team tonight," explained Cougar coach Lee Cigliano. "Columbia State is the number one seed for a reason and they played well tonight. They have an excellent shot at winning this tournament. I told the guys in the lockerroom that it's not how you start, it's how you finish and we won 4 out of our last 5 to finish the season."
"It's always tough when you play that last game," the coach continued. "You form a bond with the guys throughout the season and I am really going to miss these sophomores. But that is the way it goes and we will regroup and get ready for next year."
In other tournament action, the Dyersburg State Lady Eagles eliminated Columbia State 85-57 and Jackson State topped the Lady Bucks of Motlow State by a single point 44-43 on the women''s side. In men's action, Volunteer State upset the second Seeded Motlow State Bucks 81-76 and Southwest Tennessee upset the third seeded Chattanooga State Tigers,100-91.
Overall Record 13-15 | | 3/3/2010 | Jackson State at Columbia | 47-43 Win | By BRYAN GRISHAM
CSCC Sports Information Director
COLUMBIA - A certain National Football League owner is famous for the saying, "Just win baby." This phrase most certainly applied to the Cleveland State Cougar basketball team on Wednesday afternoon as they opened the TCCAA/NJCAA Region VII Basketball Tournament in fine fashion with a thrilling come-from-behind 47-43 win over Jackson State.
It wasn't always a thing of beauty, as the Jackson State Generals almost worked their slow-down game plan to an upset win, but in the end the Cougars were able to hit the big shot when they needed it and hang on for the win.
With the win, the eighth seeded Cougars will play the top seeded Columbia State Chargers on their home court on Thursday at 6:00 central time with the winner advancing to the semifinals on Saturday.
The Game seesawed back and forth all game long as the Generals were determined to play at a snails pace throughout. The game was tied or the lead changed hands 16 times throughout the contest before the Cougars were finally able to take control in the final seconds. Tony Bates hit a pair of buckets early in the game while Willie Smith hit a pair of tough shots in the paint late in the half to help the Cougars to a 19-18 halftime lead.
Second half action was more of the same as the game seesawed back and forth. The Cougars took their largest lead of the night at 30-23 with just over 13 minutes to play, but a 13-3 Jackson run put the Generals back on top at the five minute mark.
Willie Smith converted a three-point play the hard way, but a rare fast break slam dunk from Ralph Strayhorn tied the game once again with less than two minutes to play. But, from that point forward, it was all Cougars or more specifically Devin Boyd as the big sophomore got it done in crunch time by nailing eight straight pressure-packed free throws to seal the win.
"This kind of game usually comes down to one or two big possessions," explained Cougar coach Lee Cigliano. "Devin really stepped up big with those free throws, Willie and Devin both came down with some huge rebounds and we managed to get the win. It wasn't always pretty, but we knew that Jackson would slow it down and we were prepared and the guys worked the game play well. At this point in the season a win is a win, ugly or pretty and we'll take it and move on."
Boyd paced the Cougars (13-14) with 19 points and 12 rebounds while Willie Smith added his usual 17 points and 11 boards. Malcolm Burton led the Generals (6-17) with 15 points while LaVonte Henderson added 11.
Overall Record 13-14 | | 2/27/2010 | Volunteer State | 82-63 Win | The Pioneers jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead in the men's contest on Saturday as one of their tall trees in the paint, Jermel Kennedy was on fire right out of the gate with the first eight Pioneer points. Kennedy connected from almost every point on the floor including behind the 3-point line as the visitors would hold a six point advantage for much of the half, extending it to 12 points with less than five minutes to go.
Jesse Taylor nailed his third trey of the half and Willie Smith converted a 3-point play as the Cougars went on a mini-run to end the first half and cut the lead to a single bucket trailing 39-37 at the break.
The Cougars took their first lead of the game as they scored the first two buckets of the second half and would never trail again. Boyd entered what is commonly refered to as the zone as they big Cougar began to score at will against the much taller Pioneers. Slowly, but surely, the Cleveland State lead grew to double digits.
Taylor knocked down his fourth trey of the game at the seven minute mark to give the Cougars a 71-59 lead and the rout was on as Boyd poured in 22 second half points to help the home team to the big 19 point win.
"All the credit goes to the guys," explained an elated Cougar coach Lee Cigliano. "I knew that they had the ability to play like this and they have the last three games. We have had a very up and down year and some very low points, but the guys just kept working and practicing and playing hard and it has paid off."
"We have beat three of the best teams in our conference the last three games," the coach continued. "We executed and gained some confidence and controled the boards against much taller teams and that was a big key. You like to peak at tournament time, so we'll just get ready for next week and see what happens."
After Boyd's 33 points,10 rebounds and six steals, Willie Smith added 18 points and 12 boards while Taylor finished with 18 points as well to lead the Cougars. K.J. Stripling and Creshaun Holt led the Pioneers (14-11, 9-9) with 19 points each.
Overall Record 12-14
Conference Record 5-13 | | 2/26/2010 | Motlow State | 64-59 Win | The Cougars won their second straight conference game on Friday night as they upset the heavily favored Bucks. Cleveland State started slowly and fell behind 10-4, but caught fire and reeled off a 12-2 run to take the lead. FuQuan Harper and Justin Garner hit the only 3-pointers of the first half for the Cougars as the home team would hold a 30-25 halftime advantage.
The Bucks made a run to start the second half as the Cougars managed to score only two points for the first six minutes. The game was tied or the lead changed hands 12 times over the next 10 minutes as the teams took turns holding a one point lead.
Willie Smith picked up his fourth foul with just over 11 minutes to play in the game, but Boyd came to the rescue as he poured in 17 second half points with shots from every possible angle to take up the slack and give the Cougars the lead for good. Smith converted a huge three-point play and Taylor nailed four free tosses down the stretch as the Cougars finished strong and pulled off the upset.
Boyd led all scorers with 25 points and 10 boards for the Cougars (12-14, 5-13) while Smith added 14 points and 13 rebounds to the cause. Zamarious McClendon paced the Bucks (15-8, 12-5) with 14 points, Daryn Frazier finished with 12 and Robbie Townsend added 11.
Overall Record 11-14
Conference Record 4-13 | | 2/20/2010 | Southwest Tennessee | 86-80 Win | The Cleveland State basketball teams took three out of four games over the weekend as the Lady Cougars notched a pair of key conference wins while the Cougars split a pair. The Lady Cougars worked their run and gun style to near perfection on Friday night in a win over the Dyersburg State Lady Eagles by a final score of 83-68 while the Cougars dropped a tough game to the Eagles, 84-78. The Lady Cougars made it three in a row and six out of seven on Saturday with a big win over the Southwest Tennessee Lady Saluqis, 96-82 while the Cougars built a big lead and held on for dear life as they topped the much taller Saluqis for the seccond time this season by a final talley of 86-80.
"I am so proud of our guys I don't know what to say, we were short-handed today, we have fought through some adversity this weekend, but we played hard and somehow found a way to win the game," said Cougar coach Lee Cigliano. "We have won three conference games this year and if you had told me that two of them would be against the defending conference champ Southwest, I would have told you were crazy, but that is what has happened. Maybe we can gain some momentum and play well these next two games and play well in the tournament. We have lost some really close games this year, but today we finished well and that has been the difference."
To say that Jesse Taylor had the hot hand to start the game would be a big understatement. Taylor entered the zone and proceeded to knock down four shots from 3-point land in the first eight minutes of the game and six in the first half as he amassed 24 points by halftime. The Cougars would lead by as much as 19 points in the first half as they took a 50-37 advantage to the halftime break.
Slowly, but surely the Saluqis began to whittle the Cougar lead down in the second half as their deep bench and tall trees in the middle provided a lift. The Saluqis cut the lead to two points, 82-80 with a minute and a half to play and had a shot to tie the game, but somehow a big rebound by Willie Smith and Taylor's only two points of the second half, a pair of clutch free tosses and two more from Devin Boyd sealed the win for the Cougars.
Smith turned in a monster night with 29 points and 16 rebounds, Taylor finished with 26 points and Boyd added 23 to lead the Cougars who had only eight players in uniform. Boo Hunter paced the Saluqis (13-10, 8-9) with 24 points while Cortez Wilder added 15.
Overall Record 10-14
Conference Record 3-13 | | 2/19/2010 | Dyersburg State | 78-84 Loss | The men's contest resembled a trackmeet as well with defense becoming a secondary thought for much of the game. The game seesawed back and forth the entire first half as the lead changed hands nine times. Willie Smith had his way with the Eagles in the paint with 18 points while Jesse Taylor nailed four treys in the first half as well to give the Cougars a 50-44 halftime lead. The Eagles knocked down five 3'sof their own in the first half to stay close.
The Eagles opened the second half with a run to erase the halftime lead and take a slim three point lead of their own. The game reamained right there for most of the rest of the game as the Cougars would cut the lead to one on several occasions, but could never quite get over the hump as the Eagles would soar back out to a five or six point lead each time.
Taylor hit his sixth 3-pointer of the game and Devin Boyd added seven points down the stretch, but it couldn't offset Jermael Bingham's 13 second half points as the Eagles held on for the win.
Smith led the Cougars (10-14, 3-13) with 27 points and 11 rebounds, Taylor finished with 22 points and Boyd had 15. Bingham led Dyersburg State (5-17, 2-14) with 18 points while Brandon Jones and Zabian Sanders added 14 each.
Cleveland State will finish regular season play with two big conference games that were snowed out earlier in the year as they will host Motlow State on Friday at 6:00 and Volunteer State on Saturday at 2:00.
Overall Record 9-14
Conference Record 2-13 | | 2/13/2010 | Roane State | 75-80 Loss | The Raiders and the Cougars seesawed back and forth with the lead throughout much of the first half. Cleveland State took an early 9-6 lead as Jesse Taylor hit the first of his three treys in the half. Roane State nailed five 3's over the next 10 minutes to take as much as a seven point lead, but a three-point play from Willie Smith tied the game at 32-32 at the four minute mark and a 3-pointer from Devin Boyd gave the Cougars the lead a minute later. A three-point play from Jarrod Allen then gave the Raiders a slim two point lead at the break, 39-37.
It was more of the same in the second half as they game was tied or the lead changed hands 15 times. Willie Smith grabbed an offensive rebound and all in one motion slammed it home to give the Cougars the lead at the 15 minute mark while Taylor continued to shoot the eyes out of the basket with back to back 3's at the five minute mark to give the home team the lead once again.
Devin Boyd nailed a three of his own with just over two minutes to play in the game to give the Cougars a 71-68 lead, but the Raiders star, John Brown took over with eight crucial points on two driving layups and four free tosses to put the Raiders on top for good.
The Cougars had the ball, trailing by two with just less than a minute to play, but couldn't get the shot to fall as the Raiders hit their free throws the rest of the way to seal the hard-fought five point win.
Boyd paced the Cougars (9-13, 2-12) with 20 points, Taylor had 19 points and Smith finished with 17 points and 10 boards. Brown and Jarail Rakestraw led the Raiders (15-8, 9-6) with 19 points each.
Cleveland State will return to action on Friday and Saturday as they host Dyersburg State on Friday at 6:00 and Southwest Tennessee on Saturday at 2:00.
Overall Record 9-13
Conference Record 2-12 | | 2/11/2010 | @ Walters State | 64-70 Loss | The Cougars stayed right with the tall Walters State trees throughout the entire first half. The Senators opened up a seven point advantage midway through the opening half, but the Cougars just kept coming and tied the game at 24-24 with just over three minutes to go. Jesse Taylor hit a pair of 3-pointers early in the game and another in the final minute of the half to give the Cougars the lead at 27-26,before the Senators managed to grab a 30-28 lead at the break.
The second half was almost a carbon copy of the first as made baskets were few and far between. The Senators opened a 10 point lead, but the Cougars came storming back as Devin Boyd hit a pair of long 3-pointers and Willie Smith added a pair in the paint. An offensive rebound and putback by J'Quan Martin cut the lead to only three points at 39-36 with just over 10 minutes to go in the game.
The Cougars were still trailing by six points with less than five minutes to go, but could never quite get over the hump as Trey Payne hit a pair of layups, Fred Sturdivant hit a short jumper and the Senators hit just enough free throws down the stretch to help Walters State hold on and post the win.
Taylor led the Cougars (9-12, 2-11) with 27 points including seven treys while Willie Smith finished with 15. Payne paced the Senators (14-6, 9-5) with 21 points Fred Sturdivant added 15 and Tahj Wells had 12.
Cleveland State will host Roane State on Saturday at 2:00.
Overall Record 9-12
Conference Record 2-11 | | 2/6/2010 | @ Chattanooga State | 65-78 Loss | In the men's contest, Chattanooga State came sprinting out of the gates and quickly took a 10-2 lead. The Cougars then righted the ship a bit and took their only lead of the game with just over 12 minutes to play in the half as Tony Bates hit a short jumper to give the visitors a 13-11 lead. It would be short lived though, as the Tigers then went on a 16-2 run to regain the lead and take a 43-26 lead at the break.
It was all Tigers after that as the lead grew to a 20 point bulge early in the second half. Cleveland State made things interesting with a late run as they cut the lead all the way down to eight points as Devin Boyd and Jesse Taylor nailed a pair of 3's each, but the Tigers held it together long enough to post the 13 point win.
Boyd led the Cougars (9-11, 2-10) with 19 points, Taylor added 18 and Willie Smith had 10. P. J. Myers paced the Tigers (12-3, 10-2) with 16 points, Roy McFadgon added 14 while Alex Dean and Mike Williams had 11 each.
Both Cleveland State squads will travel to Walters State on Wednesday for a pair of big conference games.
Overall Record 9-11
Conference Record 2-10 | | 2/2/2010 | @ Covenant College JV | 104-30 Win | LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, GA. - The Cleveland State Cougars basketball team climbed Lookout Mountain on Tuesday evening and came home with a much needed win as they took care of the Covenant College Scots junior varsity team by a lopsided final score of 104-30.
"It was good to get back on the court and work on some things and get the win," stated Cougar coach Lee Cigliano. "It is always good to get a win, but the guys know that the road gets tougher when we get back into conference play."
The Cougars showed no signs of rust after not playing for more than a week as they hit the Scots early and often, putting the game out of reach long before halftime as the visitors would take a 57-13 advantage at the break.
Second half action was more of the same as the Cougars cruised to the win. Devin Boyd and Jesse Taylor led the way for the Cougars (9-10) with 24 and 21 points respectively. Taylor hit a tri-fecta of 3's while Boyd nailed a pair of long range bombs. Willie Smith checked in with 16 points, J'Quan Martin added 15 and FuQuan Harper finished with nine points. Eric Cromartie and Zach Woodcruff paced Covenant with eight points each.
Both Cleveland State teams will now gear up for a huge conference showdown on Saturday as they travel south for a pair of games with their arch-rival Chattanooga State starting at 2:00 p.m.
Overall Record 9-10
Conference Record 2-9 | | 1/23/2010 | @ Columbia State | 45-63 Loss | Willie Smith grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back in early in the men's game to pull the Cougars within a point of the Chargers at 11-10. But that would be as close as they would get as the powerful inside game of the Chargers would take over the rest of the half with the home team going on a 20-8 run to finish the half and take a 31-18 advantage at the break. Columbia State shot 48 percent in the first half.
Taylor and Devin Boyd hit back to back 3's midway through the second half as the Cougars cut the lead to single digits and a nice scoop shot from Boyd cut the lead to six. That would be as close as it would get as the Chargers sprinted back out to a double digit advantage and held on for the win.
Taylor paced the Cougars with 15 points while Boyd and Willie Smith added 11 each. O'Neal Braden led the Chargers with 14 points.
Overall Record 8-10
Conference Record 2-9 | | 1/22/2010 | @ Jackson State | 43-45 Loss | On Friday night the Cougars had their hearts broken again as they saw another game that seemingly was in the win column, slip away in the final seconds. Both teams shot a respectable 40 percent from the floor in the first half as the Generals shot well early and the Cougars shot well late in the half.
In fact the Cougars caught fire near the end of the opening half and went on a 12-2 run to turn a double digit deficit into a 24-22 halftime lead. Tony Bates and Jesse Taylor nailed a long 3-pointer each to start the run.
Taylor canned another 3-pointer early in the second half to give the Cougars their largest lead of the night for a 32-23 lead. Jackson State slowly but surely cut into the lead and finally tied the game with just under seven minutes to play as the game seesawed back and forth the rest of the way.
Devin Boyd hit a pair of free tosses with less than a minute to go to put the Cougars on top 43-41, but then as it has happened all too often this year for coach Lee Cigliano and his Cougars, they saw a last second lead slip away. A pair of free throws by Dee Williamson tied the game for Jackson State. Then, after the Cougars called their final timeout, they tried to call another timeout and were assessed a technical foul. The Cougars looked on in disbelief as Williamson sank both free tosses to secure a two point win for the home team.
Overall Record 8-9
Conference Record 2-8 | | 1/16/2010 | @ Roane State | 65-79 Loss | The much taller Raiders gave the Cougars fits all night long as points for the visitors were hard to come by at times. Roane State blistered the nets in the first half shooting 58 percent while holding the Cougars to only 24 percent as the home team raced to a 32-19 halftime lead.
Early foul trouble for the Raiders in the second half slowed them down a bit as the Cougars stayed within striking distance for much of the second 20 minutes of play. Justin Garner and tossed in 12 points in the second half while Tony Bates provided a lift off the Cougar bench with a pair of long 3's as the visitors mounted one last comeback attempt and actually cut the lead to only six points with just under eight minutes to play. But, the depth of the Raider bench came to the front down the stretch as they were able to hold on and hit their free throws in the final minutes to nail down the big conference win.
Willie Smith had his usual day at the office for the Cougars (8-8, 2-7) as he faced down the tall Raider trees in the paint with 21 points and 11 rebound while Garner and Bates finished with 12 points each. Antoni Magdos paced the Raiders (10-6, 5-4) with 20 points while Robson Memnon added 14.
Cleveland State will now get ready for a tough weekend road trip to Jackson State on Friday and Columbia State on Saturday afternoon.
Overall Record 8-8
Conference Record 2-7 | | 1/13/2010 | Walters State | 67-73 Loss | Devin Boyd hit a shot from 3-point land to give the Cougars a 9-7 lead as the home team would hold on to that lead for the rest of the half. Jesse Taylor nailed a tri-fecta of threes as the Cougars built as much as a nine point advantage. Walters State chipped away in the final two minutes and Trey Payne hit a 40-footer at the first half buzzer to slice the Cougar lead to one point at 35-34 at the break.
The lead changed hands or was tied 17 times in the second half as it was evident to the large crowd in attendance that this one was going down to the wire and they weren't disappointed.
With just less than nine minutes to play in the game, the Cougars had momentum and a five point lead on their side, but it would all go away quickly on one controversial call. Taylor nailed a 3-pointer just as the shot clock buzzer went off, but it was waved off as the official determined that the ball was not out of Taylor's hand before the horn. The Senators promptly scored on the other end, turning what could have been an eight point Cougar lead into a three point lead.
The Senators then rode the wave of momentum for a 10-0 run to turn a five point deficit into a five point lead. The Cougars stayed close the rest of the way as Willie Smith put in eight hard-earned points down the stretch, but it wasn't quite enough to get over the hump as the Senators held on for the six point win.
Boyd paced the Cougars (8-7, 2-6) with 22 points, Willie Smith had his usual day at the office with 18 points and 15 rebounds while Taylor added 14 points to the cause. Marsallis Malone paced the Senators (11-2, 7-1) with 16 points, Desmond Crisp came off the bench to chip in 14 points, Payne finished with 13 points and former Brainerd Panther Fred Sturdivant added 10 points.
Both Cleveland State squads will travel to Harriman on Saturday with a pair of Conference games at Roane State starting at 6:00.
Overall Record 8-7
Conference Record 2-6 | | 1/9/2010 | Covenant College JV | 105-55 Win | Cleveland State made it two for two in 2010 on a frigid Saturday afternoon at L. Quentin Lane Gymnasium as the Covenant College Scots junior varsity team slid down Lookout Mountain and into Cleveland for an afternoon of roundball. The Cougars scored early and often as they posted a 105-55 win on the Scots.
J'Quan Martin got the Cougars off and running with a short jumper and a layup to help the home team to a quick 6-0 lead. James Marshall nailed a 3-pointer and added a layup on a nice back door cut as the Scots cut the lead to 6-5 less than five minutes into the contest. But from that point forward, it was all Cougars as the home team turned it up a notch or two and proceeded to go on a 21-2 run over the next five minutes to effectively put the game out of reach.
Jesse Taylor lit up the scoreboard as he hit four shots from 3-point land while Tony Bates and Devin Boyd also connected from downtown to help the Cougars race to a 57-25 halftime lead. Martin poured in 14 points in the opening half, most coming on the other end of Cougar fast breaks while Taylor had 16 points in the first 20 minutes.
Second half action was more of the same as the Cougars maintained and lengthened their 30 point advantage. Justin Garner poured in six straight points with a short jumper and a pair of layups, the second one turning into a three-point play, as the home team put it on cruise control the rest of the way. FuQuan Harper, Shanad Hollinquest and Martin all got into the scoring column in the second half while Willie Smith put the exclamation point on the win for the Cougars with a monster break-away slam dunk to help put the game in the win column.
Taylor led the Cougars (8-6) with 31 points including seven shots from behind the arc, Martin chipped in with 20 points, Willie Smith added 17 points to the cause while Devin Boyd finished with 16. James Marshall led the Scots with 14 points.
Both Cleveland State teams will jump back into Conference play as Walters State will come to town on Wednesday at 6:00.
Overall Record 8-6
Conference Record 2-5 | | 1/6/2010 | Chattahoochee Technical College | 89-77 Win | The Cougars shook off a cold start as the Eagles jumped out to 10-3 lead to tie the contest at 16 all eight minutes into the game. Jesse Taylor knocked down the second of his three 3's in the first half to give the Cougars the lead as they would not trail again. Cleveland State built as much as a 12 point lead before a flurry by the Eagles in the last two minutes of the half cut the margin to 40-34 at the break.
Taylor picked right up where he left off with another long 3-pointer in the opening minutes of the second half while Willie Smith added a pair of layups to the cause as the Cougars lead grew to double digits.
Two straight driving layups from Mark Christmas helped the Eagles cut the lead to seven points, but that would be as close as it would get as the Cougars answered each Chattahoochee run with a run of their own. Willie Smith poured in 10 big points down the stretch and Taylor nailed his fifth trey of the night as the Cougars held off the talented flock of Eagles to post their first win of the new year.
Willie Smith led all scorers for the Cougars (7-6) with 26 points, Devin Boyd checked in with 20 points and Taylor added 19. Omar Prewitt paced the Eagles with 18 points while Ishmael John and Robert Broderick added 14 each.
Overall Record 7-6
Conference Record 2-5 | | 12/12/2009 | Chattanooga State | 68-79 Loss | By BRYAN GRISHAM
CSCC Sports Information Director
TIGERS ROAR TO A PAIR OF WINS OVER CSCC
The roar of the Tiger could be heard loud and far on Saturday afternoon as Chattanooga State took both ends of the rivalry matchup with Cleveland State in L. Quentin Lane Gymnasium. The Lady Cougars dropped a close contest to the Lady Tigers by a final score of 78-74, while the 27th ranked Tigers made it a clean sweep with a 79-68 win over the Cougars.
The Lady Cougars were in control of the girls game for much of the first half pushing their lead to double digits at times before a Lady Tiger surge would cut the margin to only four points by halftime, 36-32.
Most coaches will tell you that the first, five minutes of the second half are crucial to the outcome of the game and it was on this day as the Lady Tigers came out of the lockerroom and hit the home team with a 14-0 run to start the second stanza to turn a four point deficit into an 11 point lead. And in the process, completely swinging the momentum of the game in the Lady Tigers direction.
"That run to start the second half was the key to the game," stated Lady Cougar coach Dan Lumpkin. "For some reason we came out flat and never quite recovered. We made it interesting at the end, but it should have never came down to that."
The Lady Cougars mounted several drives, but each time Chattanooga State was equal to the challenge. Trailing by 13 points with 1:05 showing on the clock, the Lady Cougars made one last charge and came within an eyelash of pulling off the miracle comeback.
Kierra Johnson got hot at just the right time for the Cleveland State ladies and proceeded to knock down three straight bombs from three-point land to cause a buzz in the large crowd on hand. Several seconds later, Takeya Day hit a pair of pressure packed free throws and just like that the Lady Cougars were down by only three points with 11 seconds to play.
The comeback would end there though, as the Lady Cougars stole the ball, but missed a potentially game-tying three-pointer and fell by four points.
Kierra Johnson paced the Lady Cougars (11-3, 5-2) with 19 points and 12 rebounds, Day finished with 11 points, and Taylor Neil added nine points and 12 boards. Beneidra Colbert led the Lady Tigers (7-4, 5-2) with 21 points, Hannah Powers added 16 points, Jaqualia Wynn finished with 12 and Sha'Cola Clay had 10.
TIGERS 79 COUGARS 68
The 27th ranked Tigers threatened to blow the Cougars right out of the gym in the early going as a multitude of tall Tiger trees had their way in the paint in the first half. Phillip Jurick (6'11) from East Ridge, Roy McFadgon (6'7) and B.J. Frazier (6'7) combined for 20 of the 42 first half points for the Tigers as the visitors took a commanding 42-24 halftime lead.
According to coach Jay Price, the Tigers put it on cruise control too early and allowed the Cougars to slowly crawl back into the game in the second half.
"This team is so talented that they sometimes think that they can turn it on and turn it off at will," explained Price. "I've tried to tell them that it don't work like that. Cleveland State is a good team and I knew that they would play hard and keep coming and they did. Fortunately, after it got too close for comfort, we were able to turn it on and finish the game. We've lost two games this year to good teams where we couldn't turn it back on, so we've definitely got a lot to work on."
The Tigers came out a little flat to start the second half as the Cougars steadily chipped away at the lead. With just less than three minutes to play, the Cougars, just like the Lady Cougars in the girls game, cut the lead to only three points and had a shot to possibly tie the game. But, like the girls game, the talented Tigers caught another gear and ran back out to a comfortable lead to finish strong.
"Chattanooga State is an incredibly talented team," said Cougar coach Lee Cigliano. "We started slowly and didn't play very well in the first half. We need to learn how to play a complete game like we did in the second half. We need to do that for 40 minutes and not just 20. We're going to regroup over the Christmas break and work on some things and try to make a run in the second half of the season. We've had some tough breaks. We could have easily been 8-4 or 9-3. But, we have learned some things about ourselves and we will continue to learn and get better and hopefully make some noise after the break."
Willie Smith led the Cougars (6-6, 2-5) with 25 points and nine rebounds, J'Quan Martin chipped in with 18 points, Devin Boyd added 15 and Jesse Taylor finished with 10. P.J. Meyers paced the Tigers (8-2, 6-1) with 20 points, McFadgon had 15, Jurick added 12 and Alex Wells had 10.
Both Cleveland State teams will now take a three week break for Christmas and will hit the floor again on January 6 as they host Chattahoochee Valley State.
Overall Record 6-6
Conference Record 2-5 | | 12/9/2009 | @ Bryan College JV | 101-57 Win | The men's contest was close for the first 10 minutes and was tied at 14-14 as the Cougars started slowly. The last 10 minutes were played to a different tune as the Cougars finished the half with a 37-13 run to take a commanding 50-27 lead.
The Cougars put it on cruise control the rest of the way as they broke their four-game losing streak. Devin Boyd lit up the scoreboard to lead the Cougars (6-5) with 39 points, Willie Smith chipped in with 16 points, Justin Garner added 13 points while Jesse Taylor had 11.
"It was good to put one in the win column," said Cleveland State coach Lee Cigliano. "We started slow, but our defensive intensity picked up and our defense gave us some opportunities on the offensive end."
Both Cleveland State teams will now turn their attention toward a huge conference showdown on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. as arch rival Chattanooga State pays a visit to L. Quentin Lane Gymnasium.
Overall Record 6-5 | | 12/5/2009 | @ Volunteer State | 69-85 Loss | The Cougars, like the Lady Cougars, were presented with a powerful Volunteer State inside game and had no answer. Devin Boyd and Jesse Taylor knocked down a long 3-pointer each as the Cougars kept within striking distance throughout the first half, trailing 38-26 at the break.
Second half action was all Pioneers or to be more specific, the trees in the paint by the names of Justin Johnson, Jermel Kennedy and Jay Starks who combined for 61 points many rebounds as the home team put it on cruise control the rest of the way.
Kennedy and Starks finished with 21 points each while Johnson added 19 to lead the Pioneers (5-5, 2-3). Willie Smith paced the Cougars (5-5, 2-4) with 20 points while Taylor added 19.
Overall Record 5-5
Conference Record 2-4 | | 12/4/2009 | @ Motlow State | 81-83 Loss | The men's contest seesawed back and forth the entire first half as the score was tied or the lead changed hands on 21 different occasions. Willie Smith scored the Cougars first, seven points as the visitors would take a 7-5 lead early in the game.
Cleveland State took their largest lead of the night, 19-14 on a free toss from J'Quan Martin midway through the first stanza, but Motlow State would surge to the front on a 7-2 mini-run to close the half and take a 43-40 lead at the break.
The Bucks maintained the small lead for just over 17 minutes of the second half, but the Cougars stayed within striking distance the whole way to set up a wild and very controversial finish.
Devin Boyd nailed a runner in the lane with 2:41 left in the game to give the Cougars its first lead of the second half. Shanad Hollinquest hit two pressure packed free throws at the 1:35 mark to tie the game once again and Jesse Taylor knocked down two more with 35 ticks left to put Cleveland State on top 79-77.
Freddie Goldstein then hit one of two free throws for the Bucks to cut the lead to a single point. On the ensuing play, the Cougars tried to dribble out the clock, but a steal and layup by Goldstein put the Bucks back on top, 80-79 with 11 seconds to play.
The Cougars raced down court for one last shot to win the game. FuQuan Harper put up a short jumper from the baseline which bounced around and came off. After a mad scramble for the ball, Jesse Taylor seemingly gave the Cougars the win as he secured the ball and let it go all in one motion. The ball tickled the twine with only .08 showing on the clock to give the Cougars an 81-80 lead.
Game over, the celebration was on and the Cougars had pulled off the upset. Not quite. On the inbounds play, Boyd was somehow whistled for a dead ball charging foul along the baseline and just like that, with less than a second to play and no time off the clock the Bucks found themselves at the free throw line with a chance to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
Darryn Frazier calmly stepped to the line for the Bucks and sank two free tosses as the Cougars and especially coach Lee Cigliano stood by helplessly and watched in disbelief as the amazing comeback win turned into a loss on a controversial call. The Bucks added one more free throw with .01 left to push the final score to it's two point margin.
"This is the second time this year that a game has been taken from us," explained the shocked Cougar coach Cigliano. "This was a little different tonight. In Dyersburg it was a scoring mistake that cost us the game. Tonight, it was just a judgment call and we'll have to live with it. The play was a designed flop and it shouldn't have been called. It was a wrong call, but it happened. Our guys worked so hard to come back and win this game and it was taken from them on a call that should have never been made. It should have been a no call. I apologized for my actions, but that's the way I feel."
Willie Smith led the way for the Cougars with 24 points and 13 rebounds, Boyd finished with 21 points and seven boards four steals and three blocked shots, Jesse Taylor added 13 points to the cause while Martin had 11 points. Frazier paced the Bucks (6-2, 4-0) with 15 points while Russell Polk and Robbie Townsend added 13 points each. Both teams shot 48 percent for the game. Cleveland State hit five of 12 shots from three-point land while the Bucks hit only three of 23. The Cougars also were 20-33 from the charity stripe.
Overall Record 5-4
Conference Record 2-3 | | 11/24/2009 | @ Chattahoochee Technical College | 66-79 Loss | By BRYAN GRISHAM
CSCC Sports Information Director
CARTERSVILLE, GA. - The Cleveland State Lady Cougars took care of business quickly on Tuesday night as they turned in a dominating performance on their way to a lopsided 87-51 win over the Lady Herons of Chattahoochee Technical College. The Cougars were not as fortunate as they let a second half lead get away from them and dropped the men's contest to the Herons by a final count of 79-66.
The Lady Cougars ran their record to 9-0 on the season as they dominated the game from start to finish. Once again, the Cleveland State swarming full-court press was the difference as the visitors raced to a 47-23 halftime lead and cruised to the big win.
Takeya Day paced the Lady Cougars with 18 points, Kierra Johnson poured in 17 points, Taylor Neil followed with 14 points while Mariah Lawrence added nine.
The Cougars kept the men's game close throughout the first half against the very athletic and much taller Herons, trailing by only three points at the break 34-31.
Cleveland State got hot early in the second half and took a five point lead with just over 12 minutes to play, but the wheels would come off the wagon in a hurry after that as the Herons suddenly got hot and the Cougars cooled off, resulting in a big run from Chattahoochee Tech as the home team would win going away.
Devin Boyd led the Cougars with 19 points, J'Quan Martin added 15 points, Jesse Taylor finished with 11 points including three 3's while Willie Smith had eight points.
The Lady Cougars will travel to Snead State on Tuesday while both teams will hit the road next weekend with games at Motlow State on Friday and Volunteer State on Saturday
Overall Record 5-3 | | 11/21/2009 | Columbia State | 61-86 Loss | Columbia State opened the game with an 8-2 advantage, but two straight 3s from Jesse Taylor tied the game at 8-8 for the Cougars. As it would turn out, that would be the highlight for the home team on Saturday as the lethal inside-outside combination of the Chargers would prove to be too much on this day. O'Neal Braden from the outside and four rotating tall trees in the paint would give the home team fits all day long.
Point guard O'Neal Braden scorched the nets for 16 first half points to lead the way for the Chargers who knocked down 53 percent of their shots. The Cougars simply had an off night as they shot only 28 percent in the first half, trailing 47-23 at the break.
It didn't get any better for coach Lee Cigliano and his team in the second half as things went from bad to worse in a hurry with the lead growing to a 30 plus point spread in the final 20 minutes. Willie Smith poured in nine of his 16 points in the second half, but it wasn't nearly enough to make a dent in the Columbia State machine as the Chargers cruised to the big conference win.
Smith paced the Cougars (5-2, 2-2) with 16 points, Devin Boyd finished with 14 and Taylor added 11. O'Neal led all scorers with 21 points for the Chargers (5-1, 3-1) while Ricky Williams added 18 and Darius Roper had 12.
Overall Record 5-2
Conference Record 2-2 | | 11/20/2009 | Jackson State | 74-72 Win OT | The Generals came into Friday night's contest with a slow it down game plan and for 99 percent of the game, it worked to perfection. Jackson State was intent on sitting back in their 2-3 zone defense and making the Cougars beat them with their outside shooting. The game plan worked in the first 20 minutes as the Cougars shot only 37 percent from the floor while their offense seemed out of sync the entire half. Lavonte Henderson poured in 14 points as the visitors would hold a 10 point halftime lead, 39-29.
The Cougars were more patient to start the second half as they began to whittle away at the General's lead. Trailing by 12 points with just over 14 minutes to go, the Cougars suddenly caught fire from outside and began their comeback.
Devin Boyd connected on back to back 3s to trim the Jackson State lead to six points. Jesse Taylor connected from downtown and Boyd nailed his third trey of the half while J'Quan Martin came off the Cougar bench for an immediate lift as he tossed in three straight buckets in the paint over much taller Generals and just like that the Cougars had gone on an 11-2 run, erased the 10 point halftime deficit and taken the lead by a single point, 55-54.
It was nail-biting time from that point on as the game was tied or the lead changed hands seven different times. Trailing by two point with less than 60 seconds to play Willie Smith came to the front with a huge bucket in the paint to tie the game and send it into an extra period.
The score was tied five more times in the overtime frame before the Cougars found themselves with the ball and a chance to win the game. One more time, it was Willie Smith out-working the much taller Generals for an offensive rebound as the big Cougar center found the bottom of the net on the putback with 2.2 seconds remaining to give the home team a hard-fought win.
Smith had a monster night with 21 points and 15 boards to pace the Cougars, Taylor finished with 17 points including five shots from behind the arch and Boyd added 15. Henderson paced Jackson State (2-4, 0-3) with 20 points, Malcolm Burton finished with 19 and Ralph Strayhorn added 14. The Cougars shot a respectable 48 percent in the second half while dominating the boards in the game 42-29.
Overall Record 4-2
Conference Record 2-1 | | 11/17/2009 | Emmanuel College JV | 86-50 Win | By BRYAN GRISHAM
CSCC Sports Information Director
By BRYAN GRISHAM
CSCC Sports Information Director
The Cleveland State Cougars and Lady Cougars made it a clean sweep of the season series with Emmanuel College on Tuesday night at L.Quentin Lane Gymnasium with a pair of runaway wins. After winning convincingly 10 days ago at Emmanuel, the Lady Cougars took no prisoners on Tuesday night as the dominated play from beginning to end with an 82-49 win while the Cougars also raced to an 86-50 lopsided win.
The Lady Cougars hit the Lady Lions with all they had to start the game and it would prove to be more than enough as Cleveland State swarmed the Lady Lions with a pressing defense for much of the first half. Mariah Lawrence hit a pair of long 3-pointers as she poured in 14 first half points while Christian Page knocked down three long range bombs to help the Lady Cougars to a 46-25 halftime lead.
"We played really well in the first half especially," explained Lady Cougar coach Dan Lumpkin. "Our intensity level on defense was there from the beginning and we really never let up. We didn't shoot the ball particularly well, but our defense gave us a lot of easy baskets and that is what we are looking for. It was a good win and now we have to get ready for two tough conference games this weekend."
Second half action was just a formality as everyone in a Lady Cougar uniform played and scored. Stephanie Anderson, Andraya Tears, LaSuela Person and Katlyn Eldridge all got into the scoring column in the second half as the home team put it on cruise control the rest of the way, pushing their season mark to a perfect 6-0.
Page led the Lady Cougars with 19 points, Lawrence added 15 points, Taylor Neil finished a strong game with 14 points and Kierra Johnson chipped in with six points and 11 big rebounds. Monique Larrieu paced the Lady Lions with 11 points while Kayla Atkins added 10.
COUGARS 86 LIONS 50
Both teams opened the men's contest with a cold shooting hand. It was just colder for the Lions. As the Cougars slowly warmed up, the Lions went long periods of time without a made basket. The telling stat for the Lions, besides the 10 points on their side of the scoreboard, was in the turnover column as the Cougar D forced 19 Lion turnovers in the first 20 minutes of play.
J'Quan Martin came off the Cougar bench midway through the first half and immediately contributed several buckets in the paint while Jesse Taylor scored the first 10 points of the game for the Cougars as they would hold a 37-10 halftime lead.
The Cleveland State lead grew to as much as 45 points early in the second half, before the Lions could right the ship and make a run cutting the Cougar lead all the way down to 14 points with just over eight minutes to play in the game.
After a timeout by coach Lee Cigliano and few words of encouragement for his team the ship was righted and all was well with the Cougars once again as the lead quickly grew back to a 30 point spread over the final five minutes of the game.
Willie Smith, with help from Martin and others, claimed the paint as his own down the stretch and turned several nice moves into easy buckets including a rim-rattling slam dunk on a breakaway to put the exclamation point on the Cougar win.
"It was a good win," said Cigliano. "Our intensity level was good, but we were out of sync at times. Emmanuel has a lot of good athletes that caused us problems at times, but overall we got a lot of contributions from a lot of people."
Willie Smith paced the Cougars (4-1) with 21 points and 13 boards, Devin Boyd poured in 20 points, Martin had his usual day at the office with 15 points while FuQuan Harper and Taylor finished with 13 and 11 points respectively. Erian Ken-Harding led the Lions 21 points while Mitchell Shakeem added 12.
Cleveland State will jump back into Conference play with a pair of games on Friday night starting at 6:00 as Jackson State comes to town and again on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 hosting Columbia State.
Overall Record 4-1
Conference Record 1-1 | | 11/14/2009 | @ Southwest Tennessee | 101-98 Win | By BRYAN GRISHAM
CSCC Sports Information Director
COUGARS GET FIRST EVER WIN OVER SOUTHWEST TN
MEMPHIS - The Cleveland State Cougars accomplished something that they had never done before on Saturday afternoon - leave Memphis, more specifically Southwest Tennessee Community College, with a win. But that was exactly the case as the Cougars finished their two-day road trip to the far west corners of Tennessee that started on Friday with a controversial overtime loss to Dyersburg State and ended with their first-ever win over traditional junior college powerhouse Southwest State Saluqis by a final score of 101-98. In the girls game, the Lady Cougars made it a clean sweep as they remained undefeated with a win over the Lady Saluqis by a final score of 72-70.
The Saluqis jumped out to a quick lead over the Cougars as the visitors would trail for much of the first half. Following a timeout with just over three minutes to play in the opening half and Southwest leading by 10 points, the Cougars suddenly got hot and proceeded to go on a 12-0 run to turn a 10 point deficit into a two point Cleveland State lead at the break, 37-35.
Second half action was back and forth the entire 20 minutes as the teams traded ends of the court and baskets at an amazing pace. The Cougars nailed seven of their nine 3-pointers in the second half including a pair in the final few minutes of the game to put them in the lead. Jesse Taylor hit five shots from downtown and the Cougars hit just enough free tosses down the stretch to secure their first ever win for Cleveland State at Southwest Tennessee.
J'Quan Martin led Cougars (3-1) with 28 points and 10 rebounds, Taylor and Willie Smith finished with 20 points each while Smith added 10 boards, Tony Bates added 12 points and 12 rebounds while Devin Boyd had 10 points. Deveyon Hunter paced the Saluqis with 22 points, Cortez Wilder added 21 points while Nicholas Livisay and Brian Blackmon added 11 points each. Cleveland State hit 22 of 43 free throws while Southwest hit only 16 of 30. The Cougars also won the battle of the boards out-rebounding the much taller Saluqis 50-42.
"After what we went through on Friday at Dyersburg State, for these guys to go out and get a win over Southwest, a place where we have never won, is to say the least a big win for our program," explained Cougar coach Lee Cigliano. "We hung in throughout the first half and then we just made the plays that we had to make down the stretch in the second half. We hit the three when we needed one, we played good defense at times and we hit enough free throws. It was a great team win, everyone contributed and I am extremely proud of them."
Overall Record 3-1
Conference Record 1-1 | | 11/13/2009 | @ Dyersburg State | 104-105 Loss | By BRYAN GRISHAM
CSCC Sports Information Director
DYERSBURG - The Cleveland State Lady Cougars notched their first road win of the season on Friday night, keeping their record unblemished at 4-0, with a 78-69 win over the Dyersburg State Lady Eagles. The Cougars were not as fortunate as they lost a controversy filled game in overtime by a score of 105-104.
"We won the game in regulation, that's as plain as I can say it," said Cougar coach Lee Cigliano. "This was not a judgement call, it was an administrative call. They simply got the score wrong and it ultimately took a win away from us. There was a mistake earlier in the game and they corrected it, but they wouldn't even check the second mistake. It's a real shame, because our team deserved to win the game because we scored more points than they did."
The men's game was close throughout the first half as each team took turns making a run. The Eagles were finally able to take a three point lead by halftime at 47-44.
Second half action was more of the same as the Cougars caught and passed the Eagles midway through the second half. J'Quan Martin hit a layup with just over a minute to play in the game to put the Cougars up seemingly 78-70, but the score was later changed to 77-70. A pair of long three-pointers and several key missed free tosses later and the Cougars and Eagles were headed for overtime which according to the coach, never should have happened.
Devin Boyd led all scorers for the Cougars with 32 points, Justin Garner added 21 points, Willie Smith had 18, Jesse Taylor finished with 13 and Martin added 10. Logan Chappell, Brandon Jones and Freddie Currie all had 15 points for the Eagles. The Cougars hit only 17 of 26 free throws in the game while Dyersburg hit 25-36.
"I don't know if anything can be done to change the injustice," continued Cigliano. "I am confident the tape will show the mistake in the score. My guys played well and gave a great effort and should have been rewarded for their efforts."
The girls contest seesawed back and forth for much of the first half as the Lady Eagles took an early lead, before the Lady Cougars were able to jump on top at halftime by a 41-36 margin.
A 14-4 run by the Cleveland State ladies to open the second half would provide the much needed cushion that the visitors would need as they would never trail again. Cleveland State sizzled the nets as they shot 55 percent from the floor for the game while holding the Lady Eagles to only 31 percent shooting.
Taylor Neil led the Lady Cougars with 21 points while Kierra Johnson and Mariah Lawrence added 12 points, Tiffany Johnson had 11 and LaSuela Person finished with 10. Jeniqua Jennings and Kayla Tyus led Dyersburg with 14 points while Becky Caldwell added 12.
"It was a hard fought game all the way through," stated Lady Cougar coach Dan Lumpkin. "The first six minutes of the second half we came out and really played well. We made a run and opened up a 15 point lead. They made a couple of runs after that, but each time we answered. It was a big win."
Overall Record 3-1
Conference Record 0-1 | | 11/7/2009 | @ Emmanuel College JV | 83-72 Win | The Lions roared to an 8-2 lead to start the game as the home team hit four of their first five shots, but the Cougars were able to weather the storm and then go on a 30-5 run over the middle 10 minutes of the first half. A pair of 3-pointers from Jesse Taylor and Tony Bates along with a slam dunk by Willie Smith after a nice bounce pass from Justin Garner helped the Cougars hold a 39-29 halftime lead.
Willie Smith flexed his considerable muscles in the early part of the second half in the paint with nine points including another rim rattling slam and multiple rebounds as the Cougar lead moved to the 20 point mark midway through the half. Bates hit another shot from downtown while J'Quan Martin provided a lift off the bench with 13 second half points as the Cougars put it on cruise control the rest of the way. The Lions did mount a late rally to cut the final score to only 12 points, but it was too little to late as the Cougars held on to notch win number two.
"Overall we played pretty well and it was good to get a win especially on the road because this is a tough place to play," explained Cougar coach Lee Cigliano. "I would have liked to have finished each half a little stronger as we let them make a run at the end of both halves. We battled foul trouble and injuries the whole game so overall we did O.K. We did a lot of good things tonight, but it's still a work in progress."
Martin and Smith poured in 19 points each to lead the Cougars (2-0) while Devin Boyd added 14 points. Martin Floris paced the Lions with 12 points while Lionel ManoMano finished with 10.
Overall Record 2-0 | | 11/2/2009 | Bryan College JV | 107-55 Win | By BRYAN GRISHAM
CSCC Sports Information Director
The Cleveland State Cougars basketball team opened the 2009/2010 season in a big way on Monday night as they completely overwhelmed the Bryan College Lions junior varsity team by a final score of 107-55 at L. Quentin Lane Gymnasium.
Barely five minutes into the contest, the Cougars revved up their engines, caught another gear and hit their guests with a 23-2 run and never looked back after that. J'Quan Martin keyed the run with six straight points on a pair of slam dunks and a steal and layup as the lead grew rapidly. FuQuan Harper, Devin Boyd, Tony Bates and Stephen Cook all knocked down a long three-pointer for the home team as the lead grew to a 57-30 halftime spread
Defense was the name of the game in the first half as the Cougar D caused 18 first half turnovers and held Bryan College to only 31 percent shooting from the floor. At the same time Cleveland State nailed 55 percent of their shots in the first 20 minutes.
Second half action was more of the same as Willie Smith hit three quick shots in the early going, one on an offensive rebound and putback and another on the back end of a nice feed from Shanad Hallinquest. Hallingquest finished with five assists and four steals in the contest.
Bates hit back to back bombs from three-point land while D.J. Jones got in on the fun with a pair of steals and layups late in the contest as the Cleveland State lead grew to a 40 point bulge.
Although it was only the first game of the season, coach Lee Cigliano was excited about his team's performance.
"We are trying to establish how we want to play in the early going," explained Cigliano. "Defensively we want to play with great effort and play sound. No matter who our opponent is, we want to play with the same kind of effort. You want to do that in all areas of the game, but especially on the defensive end. We have to create some offense out of our defense and we did that tonight."
Harper paced five Cougars (1-0) in double digit scoring with 21 points including three treys, Martin checked in with 20 points and 12 rebounds, Willie Smith added 18 points and 13 boards while Boyd and Bates had 15 and 14 points respectively. Alex Thomas led the Lions with nine points while Adam Ambrosetti and Nate Daniels added eight points each. Cleveland State blistered the nets to the tune of 56 percent shooting for the game while holding the Lions to only 31 percent. The Cougars also won the battle of the boards 47-26.
"Overall it was a good win and a pretty good effort," stated Cigliano. "We still have a lot to work on. Shanad did a good job at the point, D.J did a good job, but really everybody came in and contributed tonight and played well and that's what we've got to have. We are not a great shooting team so we have to hustle and play defense and make things happen in other ways. We have to play as a team if we are going to be successful and that means that everybody has to do their part and they did tonight."
Overall Record 1-0 |
|
|
|
