SSU MBB rallies behind Gardner's double-double, four dub-fig scorers to claim 81-73 victory over IU-Columbus

PORTSMOUTH, Ohio -- Trailing by a 32-30 deficit at the halftime break, the men's basketball program at Shawnee State used Cory Gardner's second consecutive double-double performance and four double-figure scoring outings to claim an 81-73 victory over the Indiana-Columbus Crimson Pride basketball program Thursday evening at Waller Gymnasium in Portsmouth.

Game Summary

The contest, which began at 7:30 p.m. instead of the originally scheduled 5:30 p.m. due to logistical issues in terms of travel on Indiana-Columbus' end, proved to be an efficient one for both sides offensively -- as Shawnee State shot 31-of-58 (53.4 percent) from the field while Indiana-Columbus went 33-of-66 from the field to make exactly 50 percent of its attempts in the River States Conference matchup.

Late game efficiency and poise down the stretch proved to be key for Shawnee State (9-10, 4-3 River States Conference) in its fourth consecutive victory -- as the Bears, up 72-70 with 1:21 to play, went on a 7-1 run over a 51 second span to seal the contest's result. Despite the close affair, where the lead never was larger than 10 for either team at any point over the entire game, Shawnee State managed to hold the lead for 16:33 of the final 20 minutes of the contest en route to the victory.

Gardner continues efficient performance

Playing at a high level once again, Cory Gardner kept his foot on the gas pedal as the graduate student collected a double-double outing and ripped up Indiana-Columbus' defense in doing so.

Gardner, who posted 29 points, nine rebounds, five assists and five steals on 13-of-17 shooting against Oakland City last Saturday in a 87-71 victory over the Mighty Oaks, kept mashing the gas against IU-Columbus as Gardner added in 23 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals on 10-of-13 shooting against the Crimson Pride.

The 6-0 guard from Owensboro, Ky. dropped in 10 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals on 5-of-6 shooting in the opening half, then added 13 points, six rebounds, three assists and a steal on 5-of-7 shooting in the second half to remain incredibly consistent. In doing so, Gardner remained on the attack throughout, scoring or assisting on six of Shawnee State's first nine points of the contest and 12 of the Bears' first 20 tallies overall as SSU jumped out to a 20-10 lead with 12:21 to play in the opening half, Shawnee State's largest of the entire game and the largest lead for both teams during the affair.

When Indiana-Columbus rallied to take a 32-30 halftime lead, it was Gardner who brought the juice, again, for Shawnee State -- by scoring or assisting on 10 of Shawnee State's first 16 points of the second half. It was Gardner's pickpocket of Indiana-Columbus' Damontae Thompson that led to an Amaury Hawes bucket in transition off of a Gardner pass with 17:04 to play to give the Bears their first lead of the final half of competition, and it was Gardner's free throws at the 16:21 mark of the final half that gave SSU the lead for good in the triumph.

For the season, Gardner is averaging 19 points, 7.4 rebounds, four assists and 3.2 steals per game on 65.1 percent shooting.

Additional

Behind Gardner, the Bears also put Tre Beard, Donovan Lovelace and Ezra McKee in double-figures.

Beard, who was honored prior to Thursday's tip off for eclipsing the 1,000-point mark back on Tuesday, Jan. 14 in an 86-67 victory over Alice Lloyd (Ky.), scored 17 points and added in four rebounds and four assists while going a perfect 8-of-8 from the charity stripe -- moving his potential school-record setting free throw percentage up to 92.2 percent for the season. Beard hit his 205th career three-pointer in the first half of Shawnee State's 81-73 win over Indiana-Columbus.

Lovelace added in 14 points and eight rebounds while McKee finished with an additional 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting.

AJ Belton added in seven rebounds, six points and four steals while going 3-of-5 from the floor to lead Shawnee State off of the bench.

The Shawnee State men's basketball program returns to action Saturday afternoon against Indiana-Southeast (9-9, 4-3 River States Conference). Game time is set for 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon inside the friendly confines of Waller Gymnasium.