Home Notice Box Sports Both CSU teams fall to Benedict

Both CSU teams fall to Benedict

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Greene County News

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Central State Marauders converted just 3o percent of their shot attempts in Thursday’s 69-56 road loss to Benedict College.

Neither team gained much separation from the other in the opening 20 minutes. The Marauders gradually built a 25-20 lead at the 3:48 mark thanks to five straight points from Dymiere Finch. CSU was unsuccessful in building on its lead as Benedict scored the final five points of the half to knot the score, 25-25, at halftime.

BC opened the second half on a 7-2 run. A Morgan Justice three pointer put the Tigers up 32-27 at the 17:48 mark. Justice hit again from beyond the arc at the 14:48 mark and increased Benedict’s lead to 10 with free throws from Kevin Scott at the 12:22 mark.

While Marauder shooters struggled to find their mark, Benedict maintained a comfortable lead throughout the remainder of the game. The Tigers took their largest lead of the night with two Brandon Morris free throws to make the score, 62-45, with 4:26 remaining and cruised to the 16-point victory.

The Marauders made just seven of 28 field attempts in the second half while the Tigers went an efficient 13-for-23 from the field during that span. BC outscored CSU in the paint, 24-10 and the Tiger bench out-dueled the Marauder reserves, 28-20.

Morris led the Tigers to their first win of the season with 15 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists. With the win, Benedict improves to 1-3 on the season with a 1-0 mark in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

CSU’s Markese McGuire led all scorers with 20 points. The loss dropped the Marauders to an overall record of 4-3 and 1-1 in SIAC play.

WOMEN: Benedict 93, Central State 79

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Central State Lady Marauders’ struggles offensively down the stretch of Thursday night’s 93-79 road loss to Benedict College.

The Tigerettes opened the game on a 12-4 run, but CSU responded with a 11-1 run to take a 15-13 lead at the end of the first quarter. Led by Destiny Betts and Darnetta Richardson led Benedict in the second quarter as BC outscored CSU, 23-18, to take a 36-33 lead into the break.

BC gradually built its lead to double-figures in the third quarter. Two Richardson free throws put the Tigerettes up 59-41 with 3:44 left in the quarter. The Marauders chipped away at the deficit and scored seven points in the final 27 seconds of the third quarter to cut the BC lead down to 66-60 heading into the final 10 minutes of play.

The Tigerettes regained momentum, taking a 80-69 lead with 4:41 remaining. Sparked by three straight buckets from Sierra Harley, CSU mounted a 10-0 run and trailed by just one point with 3:25 to go. Unfortunately for CSU, the final three minutes were one-sided in the favor of Benedict. The Tigerettes closed the game out on a 13-0 run to claim a 14-point victory.

Held scoreless in the final 3:25 of the game, CSU went 0 for 6 from the field while Benedict went to the free throw line 11 times, making seven attempts.

Betts had a tremendous night finishing with 29 points and 26 rebounds. Mikeisha Moore made six of 10 shot attempts from beyond the arc to finish with 21 points. Zairra Harris went 10-of-12 from the free-throw line and recorded 18 points, as Benedict improved to 4-3 overall and 1-0 in Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play.

Sierra Harley led CSU in scoring for the third straight game, with 22 points, making eight of 14 field goals. Ghameerah McCullers came off the bench to score 16 points.

With Thursday’s loss, the Lady Marauders have dropped their last three games and stand at 2-4 on the season and 0-2 in the conference.

Both Marauders teams will travel to Augusta, Ga. on Saturday to play Paine College.

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