It's been a year of firsts for the Shawnee State men's basketball program.
The first double-digit winning streak in program history. The first 25-win season in program history. The first regular season and conference tournament championships in program history.
That's all been accomplished by the 2020-21 Shawnee State men's basketball program.
In Saturday's NAIA Opening Round, Crestview Hills Bracket A Final, the 2020-21 version of the program accomplished yet another first -- a national tournament victory.
The men's basketball program at Shawnee State put three players in double-figures -- James Jones, EJ Onu and Miles Thomas -- owned the glass by a plus-20 margin against West Virginia Tech (43-23) and shot 48.1 percent from the field to claim a 76-70 victory over the Golden Bears Saturday afternoon in the NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship Opening Round, presented by Ballogy.
Shawnee State, who shot 31-of-64 en route to its 48.1 percent shooting stroke, went 17-of-33 from the field (51.5 percent) en route to building a 39-31 halftime lead.
West Virginia Tech, down 51-42 at one point, used a 10-2 run at one point to close the Bears' lead to a single point, 53-52, with 10:20 to go but got no closer as a 17-7 run by Shawnee State over the contest's following 6:35 allowed SSU to put the game away en route to its first-ever national tournament victory. The Bears led for 37:22 of the game's 40 minutes en route to the win.
Jones cooking with mid-range J
Throughout the 40-minute contest, Shawnee State's James Jones proved to be tremendous -- as per usual.
The senior wing, who posted 14 points and eight rebounds in the opening half alone, finished with 27 points and 10 boards in all for a double-double. Jones, a native of Chicago, Ill., hit eight of his first 11 shots en route to shooting 11-of-19 from the field -- all while playing a team-high 36:11 in the six-point win.
Onu posts dominating second half; packs it on West Virginia Tech
While Jones held down the fort from 10 feet on out, EJ Onu split much of the second half posting a convincingly strong effort in his own right.
Held to four points and six rebounds at the half, Onu took his aggressive nature out on the West Virginia Tech frontline in the final 20 minute stanza, scoring 16 points and grabbing eight rebounds in a dominating display of basketball.
Over a span of 12:20 (from 17:00 to 5:40 in the second half, the 6-11 senior big man scored 16 of Shawnee State's 18 points in that span, allowing the Bears to withstand an 11-2 West Virginia Tech run during the middle of that stretch of time. Onu capped off the run appropriately with four consecutive dunks that helped turn the momentum back in Shawnee State's favor.
For his career, Onu now has 1,527 points and 833 rebounds. The Cleveland, Ohio native added in five blocks and now has 499 for his career as a result -- just one shy of the 500 mark.
Thomas huge in facilitating, defense
Throughout the game, senior wing Miles Thomas was a major cog in Shawnee State's offensive and defensive execution, especially down the stretch.
Finishing with 10 points and a team-high four assists, Thomas scored six tallies in the opening half alone while playing the passing lanes effectively over the course of the affair.
UP NEXT
Shawnee State will move on the NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship Round of 16 at the final site of the tournament, Kansas City, Mo. A time, date and opponent will be announced in the coming hours.
For more information on SSU Bears Athletics, visit www.ssubears.com or visit the Twitter and Facebook pages at https://twitter.com/SSUBears and https://www.facebook.com/SSUBears. For more information on how to join the SSU Bear Club or for sponsorship of specific SSU players or events, visit https://givetossu.com/bear-club and https://givetossu.com/sponsorthebears.
