Mustangs dominate Rams to win home opener
CBC Athletics
Erik Holth, Sports Information Director
CONWAY – Opening their home schedule this afternoon, Central Baptist College men’s basketball hosted the Rams of Huston-Tillotson at Reddin Fieldhouse. CBC (2-0) led the whole way, with only two ties, including a 40-point lead in the second half, beating HTU (0-2), 100-77, and breaking the program record for a single game in rebounds in the process.
CBC grabbed 66 rebounds in the game, including 22 on the offensive glass, to break the previous record of 62 set in Dec. of 2012 against Crowley’s Ridge. Janiro Lane led the way in rebounds with 11 while Simon Okolue (SR/Laguna Niguel, California) also finished in double figures with 10, adding 17 points for his first double-double as a Mustang. Darius Williams (SR/Lexington, Ky.) led CBC in scoring again, dropping in 22 points, including five threes. Darius Polley (SR/Amarillo, Texas) also finished in double figures with 13 and Tyrone Alston (SR/Caruthersville, Mo.) filled up the stat sheet, scoring six points, grabbing seven rebounds and handing out a team-high nine assists.
CBC shot 48 percent from the floor for the game, including 56 percent in the first half and 40 percent from three, which included 50 percent in the first half, while holding HTU to just 34 percent shooting from the field and 18 percent from three. The Mustangs were plus-31 on the glass and forced 18 turnovers.
Williams made the first basket of the game, a three, 24 seconds into the contest to give CBC the early lead. Huston-Tillotson would tie it twice from there, once at 5-5 and the other time at 8-8, before Okolue converted a three-point play to put CBC up for good at 11-8. CBC went on a 7-0 run from that point, capped with a Williams jumper, and stretched the lead out to 55-39 at halftime.
The Mustangs came out Blazing hot in the second half, outscoring the Rams 37-13 over the first 11:50 of the half to lead 92-52 with 8:10 left in the ballgame. Polley sent the Mustangs to the century mark with his layup with 1:59 left and the game was put away from there.
Next up for the Mustangs is a trip to Talladega, Ala., on Friday for a rematch of last year’s NAIA tournament game with No. 6 LSU-Alexandria. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. and you can find coverage of the game if you like Central Baptist College Athletics on Facebook and follow @gocbcmustangs on Instagram and Twitter.