Lima, Ohio – Shawnee State men's basketball picked up their second win of the season on Saturday, rallying from a halftime deficit to defeat Northwestern Ohio 84-73 at Racer Gymnasium.
Tim Biakapia (JR/Germantown, Maryland) would get back-to-back buckets to open the scoring in the first half, putting SSU up 4-0 early. Northwestern Ohio would rally to take the lead, with a three from Osleby Mercer putting the Racers up 6-4. The Bears would then rally with baskets by Juwan Grant (SR/Baltimore, Maryland) and Austin Crawford (SO/Brooksville, Kentucky), tying the score at 8-8.
SSU would use those field goals to start a 10-0 run, capped by a lay-in by Selby Hind-Wills (JR/Crawley, England) and forcing a UNOH timeout. Grant would get the lead to seven point at 20-13 with seven minutes to go until halftime, SSU's largest lead of the half. However, the Racers would respond late, going on a run that would see the score tied 21-21 on a three by Nathan Lessing. Northwestern Ohio would take the lead before halftime, going on an 8-2 run to take a 31-27; the lead would end up at four points at halftime, as Grant would hit two free throws with no time left to cut the UNOH lead from 36-30 to 36-32.
Zach Montes and Willis Mackey, Jr. would extend UNOH's lead out to 40-32 immediately after halftime, but the Racers would be unable to shake Shawnee State. Crawford would knock down a three with 14:19 to go to cut the lead to 42-40, the closest SSU had been since the 2:50 mark of the first half. Northwestern Ohio would respond with six straight points, capped by a Lessing lay-up in transition to force a Shawnee State timeout.
The Bears would respond after the timeout, and begin to battle back. EJ Onu (SO/Cleveland, Ohio) would get a bucket to cut the lead to 48-42, and two straight field goals from Justin Johnson (JR/Cincinnati, Ohio) would cut the lead down to 48-46. Montes would hit a shot to put the Racers back up four, but Onu would get fouled and hit two free throws to cut the lead down to two again. Mackey Jr. would then hit a two, but Onu would again respond with a pair of free throws, then tie the game in the post at 52-52. Montes would put the Racers back on top, but Chris Byrd (JR/Columbus, Ohio) would immediately respond to tie the game up.
From then on, the game would be all Shawnee State. Byrd would hit a three to give SSU their first lead since the 4:39 in the first half, and that lead would be extended to five points by two Grant free throws. Bailey Gardner cut the lead to two points with a three, but Tamal Watkins (JR/Columbus, Ohio) would bury a three on the next possession to get the lead back to two possessions. Onu would extend the lead to seven, and after a pair of UNOH baskets cut the lead to three, Grant would get a bucket and Watkins would hit another three to push the lead to eight points at 71-63. Shawnee State would remain in control from there, and late free throws would give the Bears the 84-73 final margin.
Shawnee State shot 29-63 from the field for a field goal percentage of 46.0%; however, the Bears went 17-30 in the second half, shooting 56.7% to rally. The Bears were 6-19 from three for 31.6%, and 20-30 from the free throw line. SSU outrebounded Northwestern Ohio 47-40, and had 14 assists to UNOH's 11.
EJ Onu again led SSU in scoring, with 18 points and seven rebounds on the afternoon. Juwan Grant had another double double, scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Chris Byrd had 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists on the afternoon, and Tamal Watkins added 12 for SSU in the winning effort.
Nathan Lessing had a game-high 21 points to lead Northwestern Ohio. Willis Mackey, Jr. had a double double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, Zach Montes had 17 points and Bailey Gardner added 12.
Shawnee State improves to 2-0 after the win, opening the season with a pair of wins for the first time since 2015. Northwestern Ohio falls to 1-1 on the campaign. The Bears tied up the all-time series with UNOH at 4-4.
Shawnee State men's basketball plays in their home opener on Friday, November 9 when they welcome Goshen (Ind.) to Portsmouth for the first time in program history. Tipoff between the Bears and Maple Leafs is set for 7:30pm at Waller Gymnasium.
