Lack of size hurts Raiders in 87-63 loss

Posted: 11/04/14 • By Zach Chriswell / zchriswell@columbustelegram.com

COLUMBUS -- The Raiders never held a lead in a 24-point loss.

The Central Community College men's basketball team fell to Cloud County Community College 87-63 Tuesday at the Raider Fieldhouse.

"This was as hard as we've probably played," Central head coach Jerry Drymon said. "Obviously, they're substantially bigger than we are, which gives you a lot of problems. Fundamentally, we didn't do the things we needed to do to negate some of the rebounding and some of the mistakes we made. Sometimes you lose because of effort, but I don't think that was the case (Tuesday night). I thought it was just that we didn't execute at a high level like you have to when you play good teams."

The Raiders fell behind quick, but never gave up, fighting back within striking distance on more that one occasion.

"I was really proud of the fact that we went down 15-2 and we battled back and got it to about a 10-point game somewhere in there," Drymon said. "We got down and kept fighting. Part of the learning process, because we don't have any guys that have played college basketball, is to compete at a high level regardless of the score. If we can build that habit of competing and then hopefully we can get the fundamentals taught."

However, the Raiders would never get back within nine points.

After the first half, Cloud County held a 44-29 lead.

Central sputtered offensively in the start of the second half, as Cloud County opened with a 12-2 run.

But again, Central stayed the course, claiming an 18-5 run to get within 12 points.

Cloud County closed strong, though, and kept the Raiders at bay for the remainder of the game.

The toughest aspect of this game for Central was the size disparity. The Raiders were outrebounded 65-25 in the game.

"From a size standpoint, they're three or four inches taller than our guys that were guarding them and probably outweighed us by about 30, 40 pounds at some positions, too," Drymon said. "We didn't box out very well. You're going to give up some offensive rebounds to size, but we didn't do a good job of finding bodies and boxing out."

Specifically, Cloud County rim-protector Trevor Singleton was a thorn in the Raiders' side all game long.

Singleton blocked six shots, and added 12 points.

"It's really hard when you play a kid that's 6-8 and super athletic," Drymon said. "Going in there to try and score over him -- he changes your shot. We didn't do a good job of getting into his chest and creating fouls and/or shot faking and getting him in the air to try and get into him. We let him change our shots too much."

Perhaps the lone bright spot for the Raiders was their long-range shooting. Central hit 12 3-pointers and shot just under 45 percent from the 3-point line.

"We shot the ball as well as we have in awhile," Drymon said. "We're a pretty good 3-point shooting team and I think for us to be successful, we have to shoot fairly well from three. That will allow us to attack the paint better. Traditionally, they say you want to play inside-out, we're probably more outside-in, based on the size and personnel we have. If we continue to shoot the ball well, we have a chance to win some games."

Central's Shawn Robinson scored 17 points, while Tanner Fuelberth added 13 points, and Thomas Johnson had eight points.

The Raiders travel to the Northeast Community College Classic Friday.

Tuesday at the Raider Fieldhouse

Cloud County 44 43 - 87

Central (1-2) 29 34 - 63

* CLOUD COUNTY (field goals-free throws-fouls-points) - Ridell Camidge 6 3-6 3 16; Devon Thomas 7 7-8 3 21; E.J. Garnes 1 0-0 2 2; Caleb Meyer 0 0-0 1 0; Harvey Griffin 0 0-0 2 0; Terrance Smith 1 0-0 0 2; Isaiah Hicks 7 0-0 0 16; Demonte Ojinnaka 0 0-0 1 0; Creighton Brinker 5 3-5 1 13; Trevor Singleton 6 0-0 3 12; Jesse Patrick 0 0-0 2 0; Cardarius Williams 1 0-1 1 2; Justin Kurash 1 1-2 0 3. Totals 35 14-22 19 87.

* CENTRAL - Shawn Robinson 5 3-5 1 17; Warol Gatdit 1 0-0 2 2; Bryant Kelly 2 2-2 3 7; Tyrone Clayton 0 2-3 4 2; Thomas Johnson 2 3-4 2 8; Connor Long 2 0-0 1 6; David Joachim 1 1-2 3 4; Tanner Fuelberth 5 0-2 0 13; Nietzche Jeantinor 0 4-6 4 4. Totals 18 15-24 20 63.

* 3-point field goals - Cloud County 3 (Hicks 2, Camidge 1), Central 12 (Robinson 4, Fuelberth 3, Long 2, Kelly 1, Johnson 1, Joachim 1).