ORANGEBURG, South Carolina -- The Central State Marauders opened up Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play with a 81-72 road win over Claflin on Tuesday night.In a game that featured 11 lead changes, the Marauders leaned on an efficient shooting performance from beyond the arc through the first half. CSU opened the game hitting 6 of 10 shots from the three point line to build a 35-26 lead with 2:08 left before halftime. Claflin responded in final 120 seconds with a 8-0 run to cut the deficit down to one at the break.
Neither team gained much separation in the early stages of the second half. A Dymiere Finch layup at the 12;02 mark gave the Marauders a 53-52 lead and sparked a 12-2 run to push the SU lead up to 9 with 8:10 remaining. Finch added two free throws at the 3:50 mark to give the Marauders their largest lead of the night, 75-62. A good three pointer by Dwight Richard, Jr. sealed the deal with 1:05 left in the game and the Marauders cruised to a nine point victory.
As a team, CSU shot 45% from the field and an impressive 48% from three point range. CSU also had their best performance of the season at the free throw line making 73% of their attempts. Led by Richard, Jr., the Marauder reserves outscores the Claflin bench, 46-15.
Richard, Jr. was consistent throughout the game. The junior from Fort Wayne, Ind. made 8 of 10 shots from the field and finished with a game-high 25 points.
"I told Dwight that he is a big part of what we do as a team. He has really accepted his role coming off the bench and had been sensational for us so far this season," CSU head coach Joseph Price said. "As a team, our goal is to continue to improve on execution as we enter another tough SIAC contest against Benedict College on Thursday."
Senior Markese McGuire had his best game as a Marauder, scoring 18 points Frank Barber III scored all 9 of his points in the second half. Finch came off the bench to finish with 9 points and a game-high 5 assists to help Central State improve to 4-2 overall and 1-0 in conference play.
Claflin was paced by Ryan McNeill-Moses' 20 points, 3 blocks and 6 rebounds. The Panthers fell to 2-3 on the year with a 0-1 mark in SIAC play.
Central State will attempt to win three games in a row when they travel to play Benedict on Thursday at 7:30 pm.
Fans can follow the game on the following links:
Live Stats - http://www.sidearmstats.com/benedict/mbball/
Video - https://boxcast.tv/view/benedict-vs-central-state-839408
CENTRAL STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS
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