Greene County News
MEMPHIS — After an opening season win on Friday over the Buccaneers of Christian Brothers University, the Central State Marauders dropped a 83-62 road contest to the Bucs on Sunday afternoon.
The Marauders looked great early on, leading by seven points at the 10:43 mark of the first half after a Markese McGuire three pointer. CBU responded behind a supportive home crowd with an 18-7 run to take their first lead with 3:12 left before halftime. From that point on, CSU struggled from the field while CBU continued to improve.
Christian Brothers opened the second half with a 18-2 run and never trailed again. While both teams shot 41% from the field in the first 20 minutes, it was CBU who had the touch from the field in the second with a 65% shooting performance, compared to a dismal 25% conversion rate from Marauder shooters.
CBU’s Jeff Larkin led all scorers with 22 points. Mitch Mays chipped in with 15 points. Joe Laravie had 14 points and eight assists as CBU avenged Friday’s loss at Central State to improve to 1-1 overall.
The Marauders were paced by Jeremy Brown’s 11 points and 13 rebounds. Frank Barber III also had 11 points but no other Marauder scored in double-figures as CSU dropped to 1-1 on the season.
“Our key players that were crucial in our victory on Friday were unable to make an impact in today’s game,” CSU head coach Joseph Price said. “Playing a quality team like Christian Brothers on the road today, I expect our guys to learn from this and correct their mistakes heading into our next game against Wilberforce University.”
While the Marauders do not play a home game until Dec. 30, fans will get a chance to see Central State when they play at 7:30 p.m Thursday at Wilberforce University. The two schools both call Wilberforce home and sit adjacent to each other.
MARAUDERS WIN OPENER
WILBERFORCE — The Central State Marauders opened the 2016-‘17 basketball season with Friday’s 79-70 win over the visiting Buccaneers of Christian Brothers University.
The Marauders had an efficient day from the field, shooting 50.8 percent as compared to a 41.3-percent performance from CBU. CSU also won the rebounding battle, 35-30.
Three players finished in double figures for the Marauders. Keilan Blanks had a team-high 17 points. Markese McGuire added 13 points. Thomas Farrior finished with 11 points, five rebounds and two steals. Sophomore Tom Johnson did a great job of facilitating the offense with a game-high nine assists.
The Bucs were led by Adam Dieball’s 28 points. Mitch Mays finished with 17 points and Joe Laravie had 10 in the loss.
