Late comeback not enough as Senators fall to Cleveland State

CLEVELAND, TN – Walters State made a late push on Wednesday night against Cleveland State but ran out of time, falling to the Cougars, 76-67. 

With the loss, Walters State falls to 7-4 and 2-3 in TCCAA play. 

"I thought Cleveland came out and played really hard," Walters State coach Bill Carlyle said. "I thought they played to win. We were running a little scared. We just have to get tougher and that'll let us beat good teams." 

Josh Jerome led the way for the Senators with 19 points and eight rebounds. Jerome is now averaging almost 14 points per game as he has stepped up in the starting lineup.

Along with Jerome, Isaiah Farrior had 12 points while Ty Hurst added 10. Other scorers for Walters State were Ronnie Thompson Jr. with six, Riley Cooper with four and 12 rebounds, Izaiha Bredwood with three, Javontay Rollings with four, Jared Carter with seven and Brandon Kabuya Mpoyi with two. 

As a team, Walters State shot 24-of-63 (38.1%) from the field and had 41 rebounds. 

It was a back-and-forth start to the game before Cleveland State built a 10-4 lead. Walters State would answer in the form of a Carter 3-pointer and a Mpoyi layup. 

Cleveland State responded though and had it at 19-11 before Jerome made back-to-back-to-back jump shots to cut the lead to two. The Cougars stopped the bleeding with a made basket, but Hurst answered with a 3-pointer and it was a one-point game. 

Unfortunately for Walters State, those would be the last points they would score in the first half, trailing 25-20 at the break. 

In the second half, it was all Cougars to start as they quickly built a 40-26 lead. Walters State clawed back and made it single digits, but Cleveland State would not go away and got their lead all the way to 61-42 with six minutes to go.

With Cleveland State seemingly on cruise control, Walters State struck one final time. It started when Jerome made a layup. Thompson, Hurst and Jerome each made shots following that and the lead was 12. 

Following a Cooper free throw, Farrior made a layup. Trailing by 13 with 1:41 to go, Thompson hit a 3-pointer. Hurst would then hit a 3-pointer to make it an eight-point game before a steal and a Jerome three made it a five-point game.

However, that was as close as they would get as Cleveland State made their free throws down the stretch.

Up Next:

Walters State will be back in action on Saturday as they take on Volunteer State. Tip is set for 4 p.m. 

Rob Harvey

Walters State Community College

Sports Information Director

Cell: (423) 779-8880

Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu

Website: www.ws.edu/athletics