It was sophomore Saturday at L. Quentin Lane Gymnasium as three Cougars and six Lady Cougars took part in their final home games of the year. The Lady Cougars took care of business on Saturday afternoon and got a sweep for the weekend with a big Region VII Conference win over Dyersburg State by a final of 65-60. The Cougars completed the Saturday sweep with a big 71-53 win over the Eagles.
Fans on Friday night got their monies worth and then some as both games were decided by two points and both went right down to the final buzzer.
The Lady Cougars won a thrilling slugfest with the Lady Saluqis of Southwest Tennessee by a final score of 69-67 while the Cougars dropped a heart-breaker to the Saluqis by a final tally of 79-77.
Be it great defense or just bad shooting, made baskets were few and far between for the Lady Eagles and Lady Cougars on Saturday afternoon. The lead changed hands seven times in all. Chelsea Jones and Jessica Harper knocked down a trey each for Cleveland State to put them on top, but Marina Harwell and Makenzie Tucker hit two 3's each for Dyersburg to swing the momentum.
Mercedes Smith, as she did on Friday night, came off the Lady Cougar bench to provide a spark and offset the huge size advantage by Dyersburg to toss in eight first half points as the game was knotted at 26-26 at halftime. Cleveland State shot only 22 percent in the first half to 30 for Dyersburg, but the Lady Cougars made up for it by hitting 12 of 15 free throws.
The cold shooting continued for the Lady Cougars in the second half until Jessica Harper got hot at just the right time. Harper proceeded to rain three-pointers down from all points on the floor hitting three straight to spur a Cleveland State 10-2 run and give the home team a 41-37 lead.
Hannah Brown nailed her second trey of the contest and Mercedes Smith continued her good work in the paint with another offensive rebound and hoop as the Lady Cougars lead grew to as many as nine points with five minutes to play. The Lady Eagles didn't give up though, and made things interesting in the final seconds, cutting the lead to 63-60, but Cleveland State hit just enough free throws to seal the win and complete the weekend sweep.
"It was two great wins for these girls to end the regular season and hopefully build some momentum for the tournament," stated Lady Cougar coach Dan Lumpkin. "Mercedes had two great games as did Jessica Harper, but we really played well as a team and that's what we've got to do to be successful."
Harper led Cleveland State with 19 points, Mercedes Smith finished with 15 points and nine rebounds while Robyn Anthony added 12 points. Kelsey Nowlin paced Dyersburg State (7-17, 2-16) with 18 points while Tucker added 13.
COUGARS 71 EAGLES 53
The lead changed five times in the opening minutes of the men's contest before a pair of long 3's by Travis Jones spurred a 10-2 Cougar run to put the home team on top 23-15. Kasheef Baker made his presence known in the paint as the Cougar center tipped in an offensive rebound and added a hook shot off the glass helping the home team maintain its lead.
Barry Griffin was the beneficiary of a beautiful drive and dish from JaMarcus Comage for a layup to help the Cougars to a 32-28 halftime advantage. Chris Burrow and Jasmin Washington kept the Eagles close with a pair of treys each. The Eagles shot 40 percent while the Cougars shot 37 percent.
A rim-rattling slam dunk from Baker to start the second half and a pair of shots from downtown by Comage got the Cougars rolling and they never looked back. Nick Ross chipped in with a pair of 3's midway through the half as the Cleveland State lead grew steadily into double digits.
From there the Cougars put it on cruise control as they ended the regular season and sophomore day on a high note. Travis Jones paced the Cougars with 22 points, Ross added 18 points and nine boards and Baker finished a good day's work with a double-double, 10 points and 11 rebounds. Chris Burrow led the Eagles (8-17, 4-14) with 10 points and Caleb Woods had nine.
"It was a good win, we were shorthanded all weekend, but the guys stepped up and played well," said Cougar coach Lee Cigliano. "I can't say enough about our three sophomores and their contributions on and off the court to our program. They have all played well and we are glad to send them out at home with a win. We're not done though, we have played better as of late and maybe we can go over to the tournament and make some noise."
LADY COUGARS 69 LADY SALUQIS 67
On Friday night, the Lady Cougars out-rebounded the much taller Lady Saluqis and caused 14 turnovers in the first half. Jessica Harper hit a long 3-pointer in the early going to put the home team on top 7-4. The Lady Saluqis responded with a 13-2 run to take a six point lead, but the Lady Cougars seesawed right back into the lead with nine straight points as Robyn Anthony nailed a trey and Chelsea Jones added a pair of buckets in the paint.
Shanavian Woodland hit two shots from downtown toward the end of the half and Mercedes Smith came off the Cleveland State bench and quickly picked up a pair of buckets in the paint as the Lady Cougars would hold a 36-32 halftime lead.
The Lady Cougars maintained a four to six point lead through the first 10 minutes of the second half as the teams traded buckets.TaQualia Mason tossed in three straight baskets as Southwest managed to tie the game and a three-pointer from Kandi Granger put the Lady Saluqis back on top, 67-62 with just over seven minutes to go. Both teams went into the bonus midway through the half as Cleveland State hit 23 of 30 free tosses in the second half.
The lead changed hands four times in the final minutes before Woodland hit three of four free tosses to close the gap to one point with 53 ticks to go and Chelsea Jones put the finishing touches on the win as she hit three of four free throws with less than 30 seconds to play to seal the big conference victory.
Woodland paced the Lady Cougars (12-15, 6-12) with 26 points, Harper added 14 while Jones and Anthony had 11 each. Amber Dunlap led Southwest (19-8, 10-7) with 12 points while Granger finished with 10. Cleveland State hit 28-38 free throws for the game while causing 29 turnovers.
SALUQIS 79 COUGARS 77
Barry Griffin hit a pair of nice turnaround layups in the paint in the early going to give the Cougars a 7-6 lead. The Saluqis answered with a 15-6 run midway through the half to take an eight point lead.
The Cougars then righted the ship and went on a run as they tied the game at 25-25 on a layup by Keith Johnson after a bullet pass from Travis Jones. A pair of shots in the paint from Saluqi big man, Nate Rucker including a rim-rattling slam and an acrobatic three-point play by Tavin Cummings helped the visitors take a 43-38 advantage at the break.
The Saluqis scored the first six points of the second half as they opened up their largest lead of the game at 49-38. The Cougars played catch-up until the three minute mark. Dominique Macon came off the bench to immediately provide a spark with a three-point play and cut the lead to four points.
Two steals by Ross and Jones led to a layup and a tip in from Griffin as the Cougars tied the game with a minute and a half to play. Another spinning layup from Griffin put the Cougars on top, but the Saluqis caught up and passed the home team on an amazing basket from Marshan Newell for a 79-77 lead with only eight seconds to go.
The Cougars had one last shot at the win fall just short as the Saluqis held on for the win. Ross led the Cougars (13-13, 7-11) with 23 points, Griffin checked in with 17 points and 11 boards while Johnson and Jones finished with 12 points each. Kasheef Baker added seven points and 10 rebounds. Newell led the Saluqis (14-6, 12-5) with 21 points while Rucker added 15.
Cleveland State will now await their seeding for the upcoming Region VII Conference Tournament starting on Tuesday March 6 at Jackson State.