Harris' double-double; 10 threes combined from Beard, Dawson lead SSU to season sweep of WV Tech, 79-68
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Shawnee State (18-8, 12-4) | 40 | 39 | 79 |
|
WVU Tech (WV) (17-8, 10-6) | 35 | 33 | 68 |
The nickname for Beckley, W. Va., as a city, is the 'Smokeless Coal Capital.'
Well, the Shawnee State men's basketball program countered by bringing all the smoke -- and didn't relent until West Virginia Tech couldn't overcome the barrage.
Another special performance from Chaze Harris, who supplied 26 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and five steals on 11-of-17 shooting, and a combined 10 three-point field goals from Tre Beard and John Dawson led the Bears to a 79-68 victory and the season sweep over West Virginia Tech to move to 18-8 overall and 12-4 in the River States Conference Tuesday evening.
For the contest, Shawnee State again enjoyed an efficient outing as the Bears shot 25-of-53 from the field (47.2 percent), including a 12-of-26 shooting percentage from three-point range (46.2 percent). Harris' game-high assist total helped Shawnee State keep the ball hopping throughout the game, as the Bears notched 12 assists on their 25 made baskets in the 11-point victory.
Harris continues padding case for postseason accolades
Never one to disappoint, either with the joy or the intensity in which he plays the game of basketball, Shawnee State sophomore wing Chaze Harris enjoyed one of his most complete outings of the year when the Bears really needed it.
The 6-5 native of Cleveland halted a two-game SSU skid dead in its tracks from the get-go, beginning the contest by scoring or assisting on eight of the Bears' first 10 points of the contest and then scoring or assisting on eight straight points from the 12:33 to 8:47 marks of the opening half of play. Then, to cap off the first half, Harris scored or assisted on seven straight tallies over the final 1:20 of the opening half, turning a 33-all tie into a 40-35 lead behind his 15 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals in the first half of action.
Harris, who also went 6-of-9 from the floor in the first half, then scored Shawnee State's first five points in the second half en route to an 11-point, four-rebound, three-assist, three-steal line over the final 20 minutes of action on a 5-of-8 mark from the field.
Harris ultimately posted game-highs in six different categories, which are listed below. Harris eclipsed the 20-point mark for the ninth time in his 16 games with SSU, notched his sixth game with 26 points or more, and posted his second career double-double for the Bears.
- Points (26)
- Rebounds (12)
- Assists (7)
- Steals (5)
- Shots made (11)
- Shots attempted (17)
Beard, Dawson locked in and on target
Throughout much of the contest, the Shawnee State lead swirled between a two to nine point advantage.
However, when Harris couldn't answer via the scoring column to keep the Bears in front, 5-10 guard Tre Beard and 6-1 guard John Dawson were able to do so with their own shooting abilities off of Harris' facilitating.
Dawson, who enjoyed a strong first half shooting-wise with a nine-point output on 3-of-5 shooting from distance against Ohio Christian, took it up a notch against West Virginia Tech by canning four of his six three-point attempts in the opening half to nab 12 of his 15 tallies in the opening frame as a huge scoring support to Harris -- with three of those treys coming at least three steps or more out from the three-point stripe.
Beard, who went 2-of-5 himself in the opening half from treyville, then took his turn lighting it up in the second half from behind the line, going 3-for-4 in the second half from distance to score 11 of his 17 tallies in the second half of competition.
Overall, Beard and Dawson combined to knock down an incredible 10 of their 15 three-point attempts between them, shooting 66.6 percent from long range to seal the victory.
Additional
Tyreke Johnson battled through a tougher go of it from a shooting standpoint while finding additional ways to be productive, notching 11 points and grabbing eight rebounds of his own while playing all 40 minutes of the contest. J.R. Lumsden added in nine points in 18 minutes off of the bench to boot to aid the winning cause.
With the victory, the men's basketball program at Shawnee State turns its attention to the final game of the year -- a key home matchup against Rio Grande (11-15, 6-10 River States Conference) Saturday evening at Waller Gymnasium. That matchup will commence at 6 p.m.
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