The Cleveland State basketball teams wrapped up their regular season schedule on Thursday night at Roane State in a makeup of a game that was snowed out earlier in the month. The Cougars slowly pulled away in the second half to post an 82-75 win over the Raiders, but the Lady Cougars weren't as fortunate, falling to the Raiderettes by a final score of 80-67.
The lead changed hands 23 times throughout the first half in the men's contest as both teams shot well over 50 percent from the floor. Keevin Tyus was a one man wrecking crew for the Cougars as he tossed in 17 points in the period while Stetson Moore added a tri-fecta of threes and 13 points to the cause.
Greg Murphy and Rod Drummond helped the Raiders keep pace with 13 and 12 points respectively as the lead seesawed back and forth seemingly every trip down the floor.
The Cougars managed to take the lead just before halftime as Jackie Hale nailed a three-pointer and handed out a spectacular assist to Tyus for another bucket while Moore hit a short jumper to give the visitors a 43-39 lead at the break.
Three-point baskets came in flurries for the Cougars in the second half as Hale and Robert Brandon nailed back to back treys while Brandon and Dantario Dansby let fly from three-point land moments later to give the visitors a 10 point lead at the seven minute mark.
The Raiders trimmed the lead all the way down to three points, but the Cougars righted the ship and zipped right back out to a double digit advantage with four minutes to go.
The Cougars then hit just enough free tosses down the stretch as they held on for the big conference win.
Tyus paced the Cougars (13-11, 8-10) with 26 points, Brandon finished with 20 points, Moore added 16 and Hale had 12. C.J. Foster led the Raiders (9-14-1, 6-9-1) with 25 points while Greg Murphy and Drummond had 14 each.
The Raiderettes had the hot hand right from the opening tip as they hit the Lady Cougars with an 11-4 run to start the ladies contest.
Jamesha Mosley and Aysia Grimsley converted a short jumper each as the visitors cut the lead to 13-10 midway through the half, but the Raiderettes answered with a 14-2 sprint of their own to open a 15 point lead, 27-12.
Jara Gasper hit a long range shot and Katrice Harris added a bucket in the paint from the seat of her pants as the Lady Cougars cut the lead to single digits. But, once again the Raiderettes got hot and knocked down the final six points of the half to take a 32-19 lead at the break.
The home team picked up right where they left off in the second half as Rameja Bell took control of the paint and tossed in eight of the first 10 points as the lead ballooned rapidly. Ashley Cox hit a trey and a pair of nice driving layups as the Raiderettes ran away and hid.
The Lady Cougars made one last push as they sliced the lead to nine points late in the game as Gasper and Grimsley nailed three-pointer each, but the Raiderettes hit 12 of 13 free tosses down the stretch to secure the win.
Gasper paced the Lady Cougars (18-8, 10-8) with 20 points while Mosley and Grimsley finished with 16 apiece. Cox led the way for the Raiderettes (18-11, 12-6) with 26 points while Bell finished with 16.
Both teams will now get ready for the Region VII Conference Tournament starting next week at Roane State.