Harris' 33-point outing headlines Shawnee State's 81-65 victory over Ohio Christian
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Shawnee State (7-4, 3-1) | 36 | 45 | 81 |
|
Ohio Christian (3-10, 0-4) | 40 | 25 | 65 |
When a player makes an appearance in a live game situation for the first time during a season, blending in can be rendered difficult.
However, Shawnee State men's basketball junior guard Chaze Harris didn't just blend in.
He stood out. In a big way.
From the opening tip, the Bedford, Ohio product was relentless on all fronts, and as a result, Harris turned in one of the greatest single-game performances in recent Shawnee State memory, dropping in 33 points, eight rebounds, six assists and three steals in his debut in a Shawnee State uniform and doing so on abnormally high efficiency by going 12-for-13 from the field and 8-for-13 from the free throw line in a 81-65 victory over the Ohio Christian Trailblazers' men's basketball program Saturday evening.
Bears burst past Trailblazers with second half spurt
As a team, Shawnee State overcame a 40-36 halftime deficit by blitzing Ohio Christian by a 45-25 count in the second half of competition due to Harris' output and relentless defensive pressure that was spearheaded by Harris' length and activity at the top of SSU's backcourt.
Overall, the Bears posted efficient shooting numbers across the board by shooting 30-for-51 from the field (58.8 percent), 6-for-14 from three-point range (42.9 percent) and 15-for-21 from the free throw line (71.4 percent), largely due to Shawnee State's ability to keep the ball hopping as the Bears posted 16 assists on its 30 made baskets Saturday. Shawnee State also outrebounded Ohio Christian by a 33-23 count in the 16-point victory.
Ohio Christian, who overcame an early 8-2 deficit to take its four-point halftime cushion, pushed the lead to a 42-36 margin on a second-half opening jumper by Chris Richardson, Jr. with 19:45 to play in the contest.
However, from the 19:18 to 16:52 marks of the second half of competition, the Bears responded with a game-changing 15-0 run that gave Shawnee State the lead for good -- and over the game's final 18:19, Shawnee State never trailed en route to the win.
Trailblazin' Chaze
Much of that damage was due to Harris, whose jovial attitude proved to be contagious throughout the Shawnee State lineup.
After leading Shawnee State with 16 points and four rebounds in the opening half of competition, Harris scored eight of Shawnee State's tallies in the previously mentioned 15-0 run that gave the Bears the lead for good in the contest, scoring through contact to begin the second half scoring for SSU and adding another pair of points on a putback to help set the tone during the run, which gave Shawnee State a 51-42 lead with 16:52 to play.
Over the next six scoring possessions for the Bears, Harris played a direct or assisting hand in all six of them.
The 6-5 guard found Tre Beard for an open three-pointer on the right wing, stole a pass that led to a runout dunk by J.R. Lumsden, knocked down a jumper, glided into the lane for a two-handed flush, and -- in arguably the two biggest highlight plays of the night -- drove down the middle of the lane unabated and, upon being met by closing defenders six feet from the rim, launched two alley-oop aerials to senior forward Keith Germain for two nasty two-handed throwdowns on back-to-back possessions.
Harris ultimately finished the second half of play with 17 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals, all while not committing a single turnover in the second half of play, en route to his 33-point outing. Harris amassed his point total in just 29 minutes of gametime action.
With his 33-point performance, Harris matched former Shawnee State talents Josh Reed (Nov. 16, 2007, Northwestern Ohio), Justin Patrick (Feb. 14, 2009, Roberts Wesleyan, N.Y.), and James Jones (Nov. 13, 2020, Grace, Ind.) for the second-most points scored by any Shawnee State men's basketball player in a single game over the past 20 years. Only Jeremy Bennington, who scored 36 points against Georgetown, Ky. on Jan. 12, 2013 in an 81-69 overtime loss, has scored more in a single game over the past two decades.
Beard adds second-half punch
Alongside Harris, fellow Shawnee State guard Tre Beard proved to be huge in keeping Ohio Christian from stacking the deck on Harris with his own shooting efficiency.
Held to just three points in the opening half after getting into early foul trouble, Beard more than made up for it in the second half of action with an 11-point output over the final 20 minutes of play while going 3-for-4 from the field and 2-for-2 from the free throw line.
In his display, Beard hit two three-pointers in front of the Shawnee State bench and hit a highlight-reel-esque three-pointer from the right wing that was something one would see out of the popular videogame series NBA 2K with a contorted, off-balance three-pointer from behind the backboard that found nothing but cotton.
Johnson, Germain continue producing
Continuing to excel in their roles, Shawnee State upperclassmen Tyreke Johnson and Keith Germain did what they do best in Saturday's victory over Ohio Christian.
Johnson, who notched 13 points and seven rebounds, used his slashing ability and creativity off of the dribble to notch nine of his 13 tallies in the second half alone, while Germain's activity around the rim led to the two aforementioned thunderous finishes off of alley-oop passes from Harris, which spearheaded a six-point, four-rebound second half for the Fort Lauderdale, Fla. product. The 6-5 forward finished with nine points, seven rebounds and three steals on 4-for-6 shooting.
Additional
J.R. Lumsden supplied six points while Tony Webb, Jr. posted six points and six rebounds to help aid the Bears along in the victory. Both players combined to go 5-for-6 from the field with Lumsden hitting both of his free throw attempts in the win.
Shawnee State (6-4, 2-1 River States Conference) will turn its attention to a Saturday afternoon home bout against Simmons College of Kentucky. The contest will commence Dec. 23 at 1 p.m.
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