The Sinclair Community College basketball teams lost both parts of a doubleheader against Cincinnati State Technical and Community College on Wednesday, Feb. 17. The Lady Pride lost 90-65, dropping its record to 16-8, while the men’s team lost 94-85, dipping its record to 18-7.
Men’s game
Cincinnati State got off to a fast start thanks to 22 first-half points by sophomore forward Rayshawn Goings and led Sinclair 46-31 at halftime.
“I attribute a lot our of slow start to Cincinnati State. They came out on fire,” said Tartan Pride coach Jeff Price. “A lot of times the opposing team has a lot to do with how you play. Right now they’re vying for the conference lead and they came out and played like it.”
Cincinnati State stretched its lead to 19 points with less than 11 minutes remaining in the second half, prompting coach Andre Tate to start dancing on the court while cheering for his defense.
Sinclair cut the lead to just eight points on three different occasions in the final five minutes, but couldn’t get any closer.
“By the time we got the ship righted we were already down 15 or 16 points,” Price said. “Open court turnovers really hurt us.”
Goings (pictured above) finished with 30 points and 14 rebounds for Cincinnati State. Guard Kevin Vest had 25 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals for Sinclair. Vest’s perimeter shooting, 5-of-10 on three-pointers, kept Sinclair in the game.
“Kevin (Vest) has been coming alive,” Price said “He’s really been carrying us offensively.”
Price said while his team is improving defensively, they still need to reduce their turnovers if they want to be successful in the conference tournament.
Women’s game
The Lady Pride got off to a slow start, trailing 17-2 to start the game and never got much closer, ultimately losing 90-65 to the Cincinnati State Lady Surge.
The Lady Pride had trouble with Cincinnati State’s pressure defense, which forced them into 26 turnovers.
“We made some stupid passing decisions and kind of let the pressure do things to us that it didn’t need to,” said Lady Pride coach Jeff Dillon. “We kind of lost our command instead of taking command.”
Already a small team, the Lady Pride played with an even smaller line-up Wednesday night due to injuries to two of the team’s tallest players, 6-footers Jessica Pierre and Emily Frey. Frey, the Lady Prides’ leading scorer at 12.5 points a game, played with two stress fractures in her leg and Pierre is out for the season with an ACL injury.
“We’re a banged up team right now,” Dillon said. “We’re kind of holding it together the best we can, but we’re not playing at 100 percent.”
Forward Haleigh Hickenbottom lead the Lady Pride with 12 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists.
Both teams’ next home games will be Feb. 27 when they play a doubleheader against Clark State Community College.