James Otey had the hot hand with 5-of-7 shooting from the three point line, surpassing his previous career-high of 18 with 19 points in the 98-75 win over the Apprentice School
Box Score vs. Apprentice School
Charlotte, NC – The Johnson C. Smith University men's basketball team picked up a 98-75 win by outscoring the Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding Apprentice School (Newport News, VA) on Saturday afternoon inside Brayboy Gymnasium. JCSU improves to 5-4 overall and 5-1 at home, while the Builders move to 6-6 overall.
The first half was close early, no real separation until junior guard
James Otey (Roanoke, VA) hit a three pointer at the 15:31 mark to put JCSU up 17-7. On the previous play, sophomore guard
Trevin Parks (Hickory, NC) penetrated the lane to draw the foul, plus the score and converted the three-point at the line. The Golden Bulls led by double digits for the majority of the period, even pushing their advantage to 18 with 7:03 remaining before the half.
As the Builders got within eight (42-34) in the final two minutes, Otey hit back to back threes to send JCSU into halftime ahead 50-36. Otey was 5-of-6 from the field in the first, including 4-of-5 shooting from the three-point line for 14 points. Senior guard
Ronald Thornhill (Alberta, VA) was a sharp shooter with 11 points and 3-of-4 shooting from beyond the arc.
In the second half, Johnson C. Smith maintained their scoring pace. JCSU improved from 50% shooting in the first half (18-36) to 60% shooting in the second half (18-30). The Apprentice School got solid scoring from Isaih Harrison with a game-high 29 points and 13 rebounds. But the Builders only shot 38.6% from the floor (27-70) and 60.7% from the foul line (17-28) en route to the loss.
Seven Golden Bulls scored double figures led by a career-high 19 points from Otey off 5-of-7 shooting from the three point line (71.4%). Thornhill chipped in 15 points and three assists. Parks and junior forward
Michael Cooper (New Rochelle, NY) had 12 points apiece with six assist from Parks and four rebounds from Cooper. Freshmen duo
Robert Williams (Atlanta, GA) and
Antwan Wilkerson (Greensboro, NC) both scored 11 in their reserve roles. Sophomore center
Delonta Boyd (Washington, D.C.) had 11 points and eight boards with 5-of-6 shooting from the free throw line.
“It feels good, I felt like I received a Christmas present early,” joked head coach
Stephen Joyner, Sr. “We set goals, we wanted to end the semester above .500 and this win accomplished that; we finished strong so I'm ready for the holiday.”
JCSU returns to the court in the New Year for a CIAA road game against Chowan University on Thursday, January 6, 2011. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 pm inside the Helms Center in Murfreesboro, NC.
