Eagles outscore BaselineUSA 121-99

Cartersville, GA - The CTC men returned to the win column on Saturday evening at the Summer Hill Complex with a nice offensive effort, in a 121-99 scoring-fest over the BaselineUSA Warriors.

Though the Golden Eagles led wire to wire, BaselineUSA kept things interesting through the middle part of the first half, as they continued to fight back from double-digit deficits through the efforts of Richard Olson and Ronnie Donaldson. With about 7:30 left in the half, the Warriors had trimmed their deficit to 32-29. The Eagles then regrouped and went on a solid 23-8 run to close the half, going in up 55-37.

In the second, the Warriors again made a move, with Olson continuing to score at will, and Donaldson remaining virtually unstoppable in the paint with a array of savvy footwork. Mike Howren also got in the act with several three pointers. CTC saw it's lead dwindle to 9, at 58-49, before deciding to wake up again. Donald Jordan, after sitting the entire first half, made up for lost time, downing all of his 23 points in the half, and Keith Ray began to climb out of his slump with a series of drives, along with a couple of treys. The Eagles went on a 42-16 stretch, so see the lead balloon to 100-65 with 9 minutes remaining.

The Warriors, however, had zero intentions of laying down though, as they again took advantage of a relaxed and inconsistent Eagle defensive effort. And, in what some would bill as "garbage time," BaselineUSA outscored CTC 34-21 down the stretch.

Donaldson, a former Georgia Tech quarterback, man-handled the Eagles for 37 points and 18 boards, including nine offensive, while Olson poured in 27 on 9 of 16 shooting. Howren finished with 18 for the Warriors.

The CTC men, now 8-2, and will play Summer Hill at 6:00pm on Sunday in the finale of the Summer Hill Cup.

Notes: The Eagles played without 6'8 post Ben Drake, who is nursing a rib bruise. Also, Nkem Ojeh, 6'6 power forward, who leads the country in blocked shots, suffered a knee contusion early in the game and sat out the remainder. Tony Pruitt also missed the game with a continuing ankle injury, which was suffered during the game against Middle Georgia. Nixon Jean-Louis was also out due to a family emergency, and point guard Malik Chandler has been dismissed from the program.