Cleveland State Dominates Tennessee Temple With 99-46 Win
Thursday, February 21, 2013
- by Bryan Grisham
The Cleveland State Cougar basketball took care of business in a big way on Wednesday night at L. Quentin Lane Gymnasium as they dominated their mid-week matchup with Tennessee Temple from beginning to end with a 99-46 thumping of the Crusaders.
In a game that was first scheduled back in early January, The Cougars and Crusaders finally got together in late February. The Cougars scored the first eight points of the night and never looked back as they quickly put the contest on ice. Trey Suttles dominated the paint in the early going with 12 points and eight boards while, Gabe Dando and Dantario Dansby did most of the damage for the home team from the outside as each Cougar knocked down a pair of three-pointers.
The Cougars blistered the nets to the tune of 56 percent in the first 20 minutes while holding the Crusaders to only 36 percent. A 20-6 Cougar run pushed the lead to double digits and an 18-5 run, including a buzzer-beater by Kahan Swift, finished the first half as the home team held a 57-24 advantage at the break.
It was more of the same in the second half as the Cougars poured it on. Dando contributed two more shots from downtown while Jameico McPherson added a long range bomb of his own to the cause. Suttles and Ralph Eason rattled the rim with a slam dunk each while Xavier Okoro and Swift took turns scoring in the paint.
The Cougars knocked down 10 treys in the contest, shot 47 percent for the game and out-rebounded the Crusaders 53-26. Swift paced the Cougars (14-9) with 21 points, Suttles added a double-double with 16 points and 13 boards, Eason just missed a triple-double with 13 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, Okoro finished with 17 points and eight rebounds while Dando added 12 points. Kailos Richard led the Crusaders with 13 points and Brevan Brazier added nine.
The Cougars and Lady Cougars will now head west for a key Region VII matchup on Friday in Memphis with Southwest Tennessee and then go upstate to Dyersburg for a Saturday afternoon matinee.