Cougars Come Out on Top 51-50 Against Motlow State

Mar'Nazha Houston drove to the hoop scoring what would prove to be the game winner with 48 seconds remaining in the game.

Her layup put Cleveland State (6-17, 4-12) ahead 51-49 and the Cougars would hang on to defeat Motlow State (1-24, 1-15) by a point.

With two seconds remaining the Bucks' Remington Benjamin went to the free throw line with a chance to tie, making the first, but missing the second with Houston coming down with the rebound to seal the victory as time ran out.

"Gritty one tonight!," head coach Ayana McWilliams said. "But we battled despite being down and were able to come away with it."

Motlow State started hot scoring the first 11 points of the game. The Cougars went into halftime down 10, but battled back taking the lead with about 9 minutes in the fourth quarter. The Bucks tied it up three times throughout the fourth quarter.

"It wasn't pretty, but any dub is a good dub!," McWilliams said.

Houston put together a double-double leading the Cougars scoring a game high 19 points while also bringing down 11 rebounds. Addison Garner added another 17 points for Cleveland State.

Malay Mitchell was the high scorer for the Bucks with 18 points while Benjamin finished with 14.

The Cougars go to Volunteer State (4-20, 2-13) next, a team they defeated in Cleveland on December 7 in another 51-50 win. Game time is this Saturday at 3:00 p.m.

Edwin Bear
Cleveland State Community College
Sports Information/Media Relations