Box Score PORTSMOUTH, Ohio -- Shawnee State (10-4, 2-0), which led Midway by as many as 17 points in the first half, trailed by two late in the second half but outscored the Eagles 8-4 over the final 3:30 of regulation to earn a 73-71 win and remain unbeaten in River States Conference play.
The Bears jumped out to an impressive 37-20 lead over Midway in the first 13 minutes of Saturday afternoon's River States Conference tilt at Waller Gymnasium, however, the Eagles would outpace Shawnee State 18-8 run over the last seven minutes of the first half to cut the Bears' lead down to seven points at halftime.
Kiante Williams and
El Sieger both led Shawnee State in first-half scoring with nine points apiece, while
Jareon Mayo and
Jaiden Guice each added six.
Tony Webb, Jr. saw playing time for just the second time this season, as the junior tallied five points (his first points of the year) and snagged four rebounds in the first half.
Shawnee State led Midway 45-38 at the break.
The second half would prove to be much more tightly contested than the latter as Midway quickly cut Shawnee State's lead down to a single point with 13:24 to go in the half, and would even take a short-lived two-point lead over the Bears with 3:34 to go in regulation.
With 3:30 to go in the second half,
El Sieger sank a pair of free throws to tie the game 67-67, at which point Shawnee State would finish the game on a 6-4 run to survive the Eagles' late-game heroics, picking up the 73-71 win over Midway.
Shawnee State was led in scoring by Sieger who finished with both a game and season-high 24 points on 7-of-13 shooting (3-of-7 from beyond-the-arc) while converting 7-of-7 attempts from the free-throw line.
Behind Sieger,
Kiante Williams added 11 points and six rebounds, while
Jason Steele also scored 11 points along with three rebounds and a steal.
The trio of
Jareon Mayo,
Tyreon Payne and
Jaiden Guice each added six points, respectively.
Decoreio Smith led Midway with a team-high 15 points on the afternoon, 13 of which came in the first half.
Up Next
Shawnee State returns to action Tuesday, Jan. 6, as it travels to Newt Oliver Arena in Rio Grande, Ohio, to face the Rio Grande RedStorm. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.
