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Columbia International University Athletics

MBB Seniors 2017

Men's Basketball Mitchell Strauser

Seniors Lead the Rams to Victory

Box Score

The Columbia International University men's basketball team honored their four seniors, Blake Ellison, JC Cavin, Ryan Gibson, and Nayquan Wilson, before the game and thanked them for their contributions to the growth of the program. After that the seniors took it upon themselves and led the Rams to a 108-91 win over Morris College.

The Rams started the game off right as Gabe Kirk was able to find senior Blake Ellison for a three. The Rams would continue to hit their shots as they jumped out to an early 11-4 lead after threes from Ellison and Ryan Gibson. The Rams would take their first double digit lead of the game at the 15:40 mark after two free throws from JC Cavin. The Hornets would cut the lead back to single digits, but Cavin was able to hit a three to give the Rams their lead back. The Hornets would once again cut into the lead, but Nayquan Wilson hit two free throws to give the Rams and eleven point lead once again. The Hornets would then battle back and cut the Rams lead to four, but Dylan Smith was able to hit a circus shot for the Rams and a free throw to give them a seven point lead. The Rams would continue to hold onto their lead as it never dropped below five, but at the 4:56 mark Gibson was able to hit two free throws to give the Rams another double digit lead. The Rams would hold onto their double digit lead for a majority of the time left until with one second left the Hornets lowered it to nine, but the Rams would take a 54-47 lead into the half.

The Rams would once again regain a double figure lead early in the half thanks to Gibson, but the Hornets weren't going away and would trim the lead just to see the Rams run it back to double digits. The Rams would continue to score and push the pace up on the Hornets as they ran up their lead and took a nineteen point lead after a fastbreak layup from Cavin. The Rams would continue to score against the Hornets and go on to win 108-91.

Columbia International shot 55.9 percent (33-of-59) for the game and shot 52 percent from beyond the arc, while Morris shot 46.9 percent (38-of-81) from the field and were 14-of-22 from the free throw line...The Rams held the edge on the glass as they pulled down 41 compared to the Hornets 32...The Rams dished the ball around today as they had a program record 27 assists...JC Cavin led the Rams with 34 points and had eight rebounds...Ryan Gibson had himself a night with a triple-double as he had 24 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds...Nayquan Wilson had 16 points and four rebounds, while Blake Ellison had 11 points as he was 3-of-4 from three...Jordan Dillingham had nine points and Dylan Smith had seven...The seniors led the Rams as they scored 85 of the teams 108 points...Patrick Paul led the Hornets with 19 points...With the victory today the Rams have become the first team in history to hit the double digit wins mark.

"Tonight couldn't have been a better senior night the guys went out there and do what they had to do to lead the team to victory," said head coach Marshall Tague. "JC and Gibson were phenomenal tonight as JC went off for 34 points and Ryan wasn't far behind with a triple-double. Having all our seniors score in double figures is also special with how much these guys have meant to the program. It was nice to have a huge crowd today and to see the former players here it was a special day for the guys and to walk out with a convincing victory is always nice."

Columbia International will be back in action on Tuesday as they host Barber-Scotia College. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 pm. This will be the Rams last home game of the season.

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