Walters State falls in the final seconds to Cleveland State

MORRISTOWN, TN – Cleveland State's K'Juan Banks hit a shot with eight seconds left that proved to be the winner on Wednesday night as Walters State fell to the Cougars, 76-75.

The Senators had one last chance but missed both shots before the buzzer sounded. 

With the loss, Walters State falls to 14-12 on the season and 5-9 in TCCAA play. 

"We just can't seem to get it done," Walters State coach Bill Carlyle said. "We're still working, but we're getting better. I liked what I saw. We had some kids that played hard. We just didn't get enough done."

Walters State was led in the game by Deovaunta Williams. Williams had a career-high 30 points for the Senators with 15 coming in the first half and 15 coming in the second half. 

Williams has played in 11 games this season and is averaging 18.9 points per game. He has scored double digits in all but two games. 

Along with Williams, Ty Hurst had a phenomenal second half with 10 points as he scored 16 total in the game. Josh Jerome added 12. Other scorers for Walters State were Riley Cooper with eight, Destin Barker with six, Izaiha Bredwood with two and Deng Akok with one. 

Both teams came out motivated as they went back-and-forth before the Senators rallied off an 8-0 run to take a 17-8 lead. Jerome, Hurst, Williams and Bredwood all scored on the run.

The Senators continued to hold onto the lead, but Cleveland State made a charge to make it 21-19. Needing a spark, Walters State got one as Cooper scored, Williams hit two free throws and Barker knocked down a 3-pointer. That upped the Senators lead to 28-19. 

Walters State held onto the lead until the final 20 seconds of the half when an and-one put Cleveland State up 39-38. However, Williams hit a runner in the final seconds of the half to give Walters State a 40-39 lead at the break.

In the second half, the two teams went toe-to-toe for 20 minutes as the lead changed 10 times. Walters State got their lead to three early, but Cleveland State answered and gave themselves a three-point lead with 15 minutes to go. 

Cleveland held onto the lead for the next four minutes until Hurst hit a 3-pointer to tie the game and Williams made a shot to give Walters State a 59-57 lead. The lead went back-and-forth from there until Walters State went on a run, trailing 65-64. 

First, Barker and Akok both hit free throws to give the Senators the lead back. Hurst then hit back-to-back shots before Williams drilled a 3-pointer, forcing a Cleveland timeout and giving the Senators a 73-65 lead with 4:35 to go. 

However, the Cougars went on their own run following the timeout to cut the lead to one before Williams stopped the bleeding with a basket with 1:32 left. But, Cleveland State scored the final four points of the game to steal the victory. 

Up Next:

Walters State will be back in action on Saturday as they travel to take on Volunteer State. Tip is set for 5 p.m. 

Rob Harvey

Walters State Community College

Sports Information Director

Cell: (423) 779-8880

Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu

Website: www.ws.edu/athletics