Germain, Johnson, Harris spearhead Shawnee State men's 83-71 victory over Brescia (Ky.)
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Shawnee State (10-5, 5-1) | 40 | 43 | 83 |
|
Brescia (KY) (4-7, 2-4) | 32 | 39 | 71 |
After taking a 40-32 advantage into the halftime break, the men's basketball program at Shawnee State opened up a River States Conference contest against the Brescia (Ky.) Bearcats' men's basketball program by ultimately taking a 72-49 advantage over the Bearcats in the second half of competition before cruising the rest of the distance en route to a 83-71 triumph Thursday evening in a matchup that was held in Owensboro, Ky. behind Keith Germain's 23 points and four rebounds to go along with 16 points and six assists from Chaze Harris and 15 points, nine rebounds and four assists from Tyreke Johnson.
Shawnee State, who entered the contest 11th in the NAIA in three-point field goal percentage (39 percent) and tied for 25th in the association in offensive field percentage (49.5 percent), did nothing to hurt those numbers Thursday evening.
In fact, the Bears only improved their overall percentages -- shooting 32-of-51 from the field (62.7 percent) while going 4-for-9 (44.4 percent) from downtown in the contest off of excellent ball movement as SSU posted 18 assists on its 32 made baskets in the contest. Shawnee State held Brescia to 28-of-67 shooting (41.8 percent) defensively.
Germain gets up and down
Whether in the half court or in the open floor, Shawnee State senior forward Keith Germain has proven to be a terror throughout the first 15 games of the year.
Germain, from the outset, was in a groove as Brescia's lineup proved to be no match for the Fort Lauderdale, Fla. native -- whose touch around the rim and rarely paralleled athleticism led to the forward posting 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the opening half and 13 points, three rebounds and a block on 5-of-7 shooting and 3-of-4 shooting from the free throw line in the second half.
Germain ultimately finished with his sixth 20-point outing of the year -- and his first since an 88-79 victory over Milligan (Tenn.) back on Nov. 24. The senior scored his 23 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the field, amounting to a 76.9 percent shooting mark from the field, his best shooting performance of the season to date.
The 6-5 forward is now averaging 16.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks on 58.6 percent shooting from the field and a 37.5 percent shooting clip from three-point range.
Johnson keeps well-balanced performances coming
Having served as somewhat of a Swiss Army Knife for Shawnee State for much of the year, junior combo guard Tyreke Johnson posted a 15-point, nine-rebound, four-assist statline Thursday evening.
Coming off of the bench to provide a spark, Johnson notched six points, three rebounds and two assists in the opening half before adding in nine points, six rebounds and two additional assists in the second 20-minute stanza. The Woodstock, Ga. product combined with Germain to score 15 consecutive Shawnee State points in a four-minute span from the 12:14 to 8:14 marks of the second half of play -- allowing the Bears to go on a 15-5 run that pushed the Shawnee State lead from a 59-44 advantage to a 72-49 count during this point in time.
Johnson, who went 3-for-3 from the field and the free throw line in the second half, finished with his 15 points by going 5-of-7 from the field and 5-of-6 from the free throw line. Johnson now sits at averages of 15.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists and one steal per game while shooting 46.5 percent from the field and 82.4 percent from the free throw line.
Over the last six games, Johnson has gone 32-for-34 from the free throw line en route to shooting a strong 94.1 percent mark from the charity stripe -- and he's scored in double-figures in each of Shawnee State's last eight contests.
Harris hits with assists
A deft passer as well as a shooter, Shawnee State sophomore wing Chaze Harris played the role of main facilitator Thursday, notching a 16-point, six-assist line while going 6-of-9 from the field.
Harris ultimately posted six points, five assists and three rebounds on 3-of-3 shooting from the floor before exploding out of the box in the second half, scoring or assisting on each of Shawnee State's first four baskets while putting up seven of Shawnee State's eight points from the 16:43 to 15:14 marks of the contest.
The 6-5 wing from Cleveland now holds averages of 24.3 points, six rebounds and 4.3 assists while shooting 63.2 percent from the field, 40 percent from three-point range and 78.3 percent from the free throw line. Harris hasn't scored under 15 points in any of the six games that he's played in for the Bears this season.
Additional
Tony Webb, Jr. added in eight points and three rebounds on 3-of-3 shooting and a 2-of-2 mark from the free throw line for Shawnee State, who improved to 10-5 overall and 5-1 in the River States Conference.
Shawnee State will turn its attention to a Saturday afternoon contest against Oakland City (Ind.) -- which begins at 4 p.m. ET/3 p.m. CT.
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