Bears avenge regular season setback at home to Trailblazers with 89-76 victory in RSC Quarterfinals behind career-high 32 from Beard
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Ohio Christian (13-16, 8-9) | 36 | 40 | 76 |
|
Shawnee State (20-8, 13-4) | 36 | 53 | 89 |
The men's basketball program at Shawnee State has lethal scorers all over its roster.
That was proven once again in spades in Wednesday evening's River States Conference Quarterfinal victory over Ohio Christian -- as veteran lead guard Tre Beard dropped his new career-high of 32 points while Tyreke Johnson's 23 points and six rebounds and Chaze Harris' 11 points, six rebounds and six assists allowed the duo to join Beard in double-figures in an 89-76 victory over the Ohio Christian Trailblazers' men's basketball program.
Shawnee State, who finished the game shooting an efficient 29-of-55 from the field (52.7 percent) and 9-of-20 (45 percent) from three-point range, was also clutch at the line as the Bears went 22-for-27 from the charity stripe in that area.
In getting the looks that allowed Shawnee State to build on its national top-10 three-point percentage and its national top-20 field goal percentage, the Bears shared the rock brilliantly in the second half, allowing SSU to break a 36-all first half tie with a 53-40 second-half push behind 13 total assists on its 29 made baskets in Wednesday's victory.
All in the Beard
Performing at arguably the highest-level of his career to date, Shawnee State guard Tre Beard posted a new career-high for the second straight game -- breaking the 30-point barrier for the first time in his career with a 32-point onslaught against Ohio Christian.
Already out to a great start with 13 points to lead the Bears at the half on 5-of-8 shooting from the field and a 2-of-4 mark from three-point range, the 5-10 guard from Chillicothe took his game up another level over the game's final 20 minutes.
With 18:41 to play in the contest, Beard's three from the right wing put Shawnee State ahead by a 42-40 margin -- and allowed the Bears to keep the lead for the rest of the way.
When Ohio Christian closed the SSU advantage to a 54-52 margin with 11:04 to go, Beard responded with eight consecutive points over a 65-second span to essentially ice the game -- the last three of his eight points coming in on an in-rhythm, NBA-range three-pointer that Beard canned with ease after sagging defense gave the veteran talent all the room he needed to splash home the trifecta in rhythm.
Beard finished with his 32 points on just 9-of-14 shooting from the floor. He canned five out of his eight three-point attempts and went a perfect 9-of-9 from the free throw line to boot.
Having entered the contest with ridiculous splits (11.2 points, 47 percent shooting, 48 percent three-point shooting), Beard raised each of those marks to a 12-point-per-game season average on 49 percent shooting from the field and a 49.2 percent mark from three-point range. Beard, with his perfect free throw shooting mark, also raised that tally to a 90.9 percent accuracy rate.
Ty Smooth
Routinely playing a team-high in minutes, Tyreke Johnson's decision-making and productivity on both ends of the floor was showcased again in a 23-point, six-rebound, three-assist, two-steal effort.
Johnson did this while being efficient in both halves of play -- as the 6-6 junior went for 11 points, two rebounds and two assists on 3-of-7 shooting in the first half, then added in 12 points, four rebounds and two steals in the second half on 3-of-6 shooting. Johnson also nabbed a 9-of-10 free throw accuracy mark as he, along with Beard, helped head up Shawnee State's tremendous free throw shooting.
Harris the Highlight Reel
Never shy about creating and finding ways to make plays, Shawnee State sophomore wing Chaze Harris was efficient and sound in every area.
The 6-5 native of Cleveland notched 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field, but it was the sophomore's ability to make plays for others that stood off the page -- as Harris, who scored nine of his 11 points in the second half, also posted five assists, three rebounds, two blocks and a steal in the second half, of which he played all 20 minutes in. Harris had a clean pick-pocket in the second half of Ohio Christian's Elisha Moore that resulted in a breakaway two-handed jam -- one of several highlight plays in the 13-point triumph.
Lumsden brings the lunch pail
A key piece to Ohio Christian's success in the first half -- 6-4 graduate student Levi Seiler -- was halted by one of Shawnee State's key leaders in J.R. Lumsden.
Lumsden didn't score in the 13-point victory, but the junior forward from Toledo may have had the biggest impact of anybody on the floor for his work on Seiler -- as the 6-5 talent relentlessly face-guarded and made room on Seiler air-tight in a critical defensive adjustment by Shawnee State that arguably won the Bears the basketball game.
Seiler notched 22 points and seven rebounds on 7-of-8 shooting in the opening half -- but in the second half of play, Lumsden held Seiler to a much more modest 11 points and four rebounds on 3-of-9 shooting from the floor as Lumsden helped force other Trailblazer talents to make plays in the contest.
Additional
Keith Germain's nine points, five rebounds, one block and one steal, AJ Belton's five rebounds, four points and two assists and John Dawson's five points were key in the win for Shawnee State. Germain punctuated the 13-point victory with two thunderous dunks -- a two-handed alley-oop poster with 3:29 to play and a follow-up two-handed dunk off of the left block with 46 seconds to go.
No. 3-seeded Shawnee State (20-8) will head to the River States Conference Semifinals where No. 2-seeded Saint Mary-of-the-Woods (24-5) awaits. The RSC Semifinal matchup will commence at 4 p.m. in Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Ind.
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