De'Marius Boyd, Tyler Haynes and Kajuan Hale combined for 78 points and 14 rebounds Saturday afternoon as Walters State downed Motlow State, 100-83, Saturday afternoon at Z Buda Gymnasium.

Coach Bill Carlyle's Senators shot a sizzling 61 percent from the floor in racking up their seventh win against three losses. Walters State rolled out to a 51-21 lead at halftime and the Bucks never got closer than 17 the rest of the way.

Boyd poured through 32, Haynes was a perfect 9-9 from the floor in scoring 25 while Hale contributed 21 as the Senators improved to 6-3 in Tennessee Community College Athletic Association action.

Motlow State, now 6-2 in the league and 7-2 overall, put five players in double figures led by Anterrious Ryhan with 19. Cameron Welch hit five three's and added 17 with Jarius Key and Nico Ashley scoring 11 each and Jace Wallace 10.

Carlyle was pleased with the victory but didn't like the fact his team surrendered half of its lead in the second half.

 "That was the best first half we've played all season," said the veteran coach. "Our kids played really hard. I knew we had to take it to Motlow because they shoot the ball so well and rebound well."

He added, "I thought we did an excellent job and we came out playing pretty well in the second half. I thought we were ready to go but it just looked like we ran out of gas. We made some tactical errors against their press and let them get going. We can't let teams score 62 points in the second half like that.

"We're good enough to win this league but we have to come out and play both halves like they played the first one today."

Carlyle remarked, "I was pleased with our effort. Of course Boyd always plays well and I thought Kajuan played well tonight. Tyler's our go-to man and I felt he was worn out and didn't play really well at the end.

 "But we're tickled to death to win the game. We shot the ball really well. I'll take 61 percent every night and take my chances."

The Senators' shooting was red hot. They hit 22 of 36 (61.1) in the first half and 14 of 23 (61) in the second. Walters State took just eight shots behind the arc and hit three of those. Deadly free throw shooting kept the home team in front as they were 20 of 25 after the break and finished 25 of 31.

Motlow State wound up at 41.2 percent, making 28 of 68 including 9 of 32 three-point attempts. The home team dominated the rebound battle, 35-22, with Haynes' nine leading the way. Ashley had seven for the Bucks.

The game was close for only three minutes. The lead changed hands four times and was tied once before a bucket by Haynes put the Senators in front for good at 8-6.

It was 10-8 when Walters State got back-to-back baskets from Haynes. Welch gunned in a long three for the visitors but the Senators then reeled off 15 unanswered points over a six minute span to take control at 29-11. Boyd had six in the spree as five different players scored.

The teams scored 10 points each before Boyd gunned through eight and Hale four as the Senators scored the final 12 points of the half for the huge margin at intermission.

Boyd nailed a triple to start the second stanza and Haynes scored the Senators' next dozen and it was 66-36. Another run gave Walters State its biggest lead at 72-36 and again at 74-38.

However, Motlow exploded for 13 straight and chopped the lead to 80-63 with 7:16 remaining. Hale and Boyd sank two free throws each but Ashley hit back-to-back buckets and the Senators went on to lead by 20 down the stretch.

Rob Harvey

Walters State Community College

Sports Information Director

Cell: (423) 779-8880

Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu

Website: www.ws.edu/athletics