SSU MBB shoots 61.6 percent from floor, scores most points in single game since Oct. 2019 with 114-83 victory over Brescia (Ky.)

PORTSMOUTH, Ohio -- Sharing the basketball is always critical -- especially when a team has versatile scorers and players on its roster.

The men's basketball program at Shawnee State is certainly seeming like it has found a groove at the right time, and in Saturday's River States Conference matchup against Brescia (Ky.), that was certainly evident.

Leading throughout the final 32:27 of the contest, the Bears blistered the nets for 114 points as six players finished in double-figures, with SSU ultimately tallying 27 assists on its 45 made baskets and shooting 61.6 percent from the field (45-73), including 55.2 percent from three-point range (16-29) in a dominating 114-83 victory over the Brescia Bearcats' men's basketball program Saturday at Waller Gymnasium.

Game Summary

Shawnee State trailed Brescia, 13-12, up until the 12:33 mark when AJ Belton's layup put the Bears ahead for good with 12:33 to play in the opening half -- but SSU really kicked it into overdrive, going on a 66-28 run from the 9:50 mark of the first half to 11:18 remaining in the second half -- taking an 84-47 advantage at that juncture before beginning to substitute freely to get additional playing time for others along the bench. SSU posted 12 of its 27 assists for the contest during the difference-making run.

The Bears ultimately pushed their lead to as large as 39, 111-72, before settling for the 31-point win.

Saturday's point total was not only the first time Shawnee State crossed the century mark this season, but marked the most points for the SSU men's basketball program since Oct. 30, 2019, when the Bears collected a 139-75 victory over Wright State-Lake. 

Shawnee State's offensive balance was evident all game long -- but especially in the opening half as AJ Belton, Tre Beard, Ezra McKee, Donovan Lovelace and Marcos Vazquez all posted eight points in the first 20 minutes of play, while Elkin Ramirez added six tallies. The Bears shot 55.2 percent in the opening half and 68.6 percent from the floor in the second half, going 24-35 in the final 20 minutes of action while draining nine of 12 attempts from three-point range for a 75 percent clip from deep.

Defensively, the Bears held Brescia's leading scorer, Damian Garcia, to just one point while forcing three turnovers at the half. Garcia, who averaged nearly 24.5 points per contest on 44 percent shooting for the season, finished with 22 points for the contest, but scored eight of his tallies over the final 2:13 when the contest had already been decided.

The talented 6-5 junior, a potential candidate for honors beyond the all-conference level, was forced into six turnovers by a stingy Shawnee State defense -- namely Belton, who took the primary assignment of guarding Garcia.

McKee makes it too E-Z

In addition to his eight points at halftime, 6-7 junior forward Ezra McKee was a sparkplug throughout the second half.

McKee, who finished with a team-high 21 points to go along with seven rebounds, went 8-of-12 from the field -- largely by going a perfect 5-of-5 from the floor in the second half. McKee scored in a variety of ways all game as the aggressive and uber-talented junior put up his points on anything from offensive rebounds and putbacks to knocking down the open three-pointer.

The 6-7 combo forward's two highlight plays came in the second half -- with McKee taking the Brescia defense by surprise in scoring on a George Gervin-esque type layup, and then later scoring on a touchdown pass from fellow teammate Cory Gardner, who stole a pass, and in saving the ball from going out of bounds, fired a 30-foot pass on the money to the waiting McKee, who finished the play with a one-handed punch.

The All-RSC caliber talent is now averaging 13.5 points and 6.1 rebounds on 53.9 percent shooting for the 2024-25 season.

Beard smooth as silk

Continuing his tradition of producing efficient scorelines, Shawnee State graduate student Tre Beard was stout throughout once again.

Beard scored all eight of his first half points over a four-minute span between the 12-minute to eight-minute marks of the opening half, then scored 10 of Shawnee State's first 21 points to begin the second half en route to finishing with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field and a 4-of-7 mark from three-point range in the contest.

The 5-11 guard is now averaging 19 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.3 steals on 50.9 percent shooting, 48.8 percent three-point shooting and 92.6 percent free throw shooting.

Gardner the table setter

Like Beard, fellow graduate student guard Cory Gardner continued his own efficient play.

Gardner was terrific in setting up his teammates throughout the first half -- posting six assists without a single turnover and adding in a pair of steals in 15 minutes of play in the opening half, helping Shawnee State notch a 51-30 halftime advantage.

In the second half, Gardner proved to be a microwave scorer -- notching 13 of Shawnee State's 30 points scored from the 18:07 to 9:12 marks of the second half. During that span, Gardner drained both of his three-point attempts, notched the touchdown pass to McKee as well as an additional assist, and scored on three additional shot attempts en route to going 5-of-5 from the field himself in the second half of competition.

Gardner finished the contest with 15 points, eight assists, four rebounds and three steals while going 6-of-8 from the field in the contest. The Owensboro, Ky. native is averaging 17 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.3 steals on 60.9 percent shooting from the field, a 42.9 percent mark from three-point range, and a 75 percent clip from the free throw line.

Lovelace, Ramirez, Belton, Vazquez play complimentary roles

In addition to the above trio, the quartet of Donovan Lovelace, Elkin Ramirez, AJ Belton and Marcos Vazquez played their roles effectively throughout Saturday's affair.

Lovelace, who finished with 15 points, scored eight points on 4-of-5 shooting and then added in another seven tallies on 3-of-3 shooting from the field in the 31-point win -- moving his season scoring average up slightly to 13.3 points on 52.8 percent shooting from the field.

Ramirez, who added in a team-high 12 points off of the bench, combined with Beard to go 8-of-12 from three-point range. The graduate student guard went 4-of-5 from deep -- scoring six points in both halves of compeition.

Along with effectively bothering Garcia with his physicality, Belton added in his 10 points and three rebounds on 5-of-8 shooting -- including a 4-of-4 mark and eight points in the opening half alone. Belton is now averaging 8.4 points and 4.2 rebounds on 55.9 percent shooting and a 45.5 percent mark from three-point range for the season.

As for Vazquez, the junior guard scored eight points and supplied four assists and three rebounds on 3-of-5 shooting, including a 2-of-3 mark from three-point range, in the opening half -- then added five rebounds and three assists in the second half to come within two points, two rebounds and three assists of a triple-double.

Additional

6-6 freshman wing Preston Saia put together a strong 10 minutes in Saturday's 31-point win over Brescia (Ky.), supplying eight points on 3-of-6 shooting that included a 2-of-5 mark from three-point range, while Donnavon Breech scored his first career collegiate points on a three-pointer by the Portsmouth High School graduate. Amaury Hawes' two points rounded out the scoring.

With the win, Shawnee State (12-12, 7-5 River States Conference) keeps fourth place in the River States Conference East Division Standings. The Bears can shake up the RSC East Division Standings significantly Tuesday evening at 5:30 p.m. if SSU claims victory over Rio Grande, who is the RSC East Division leader (18-6, 9-3 River States Conference).

A breakdown of the standings are below:

RSC East Division
Rio Grande	9-3	18-6
IU East	8-4	14-10
Alice Lloyd	8-4	17-6
Shawnee State	7-5	12-12
WVU Tech	6-6	15-8
Midway	5-7	8-13
RSC West Division
St. Mary-of-the-Woods	11-1	21-3
IU Kokomo	7-5	16-8
IU Southeast	6-6	11-12
Oakland City	3-9	6-18
Brescia	3-9	5-15
IU Columbus	0-12	1-23

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