Following Thursday's action, the Marian University Ancilla Men's Basketball team fully expected to take on Hocking College in today's Great Lakes Region District A Championship Game, but due to a rules violation, the Hawks were unfortunately forced to forfeit their spot. Instead, the Chargers played a different bird in the Oakland Community College Owls. The Chargers split with the Owls during the regular season, with each team winning on their own home court. Today, it was the Owls who got the upper hand, pulling out an intense 89-79 title game victory.
Early on, both teams were struggling to make shots, then MUAC's Kenneth Grant entered and buried a pair of big 3-pointers. Moments later, it was Sophomore Ashton Oviedo's turn to knock down a pair of long jumpers, and the Chargers stretched their lead to as many as 12 points in the first half. But, with roughly two minutes to go and Marian Ancilla leading 39-29, the Owls cut it to 39-34 as they entered their respective locker rooms at halftime.
To begin the second half, Oakland was able to carry that momentum back onto the floor, and they claimed their first lead at 44-43. For a few minutes, there was a lot of back & forth, with a few ties and lead changes, then the Owls got hot. They buried key 3-pointers and drew a number of fouls, repeatedly heading to the charity stripe and building a lead of their own. The Owls ultimately got up by 11 points themselves with just a couple of minutes remaining.
Grant again knocked down a pair of 3-pointers late, and the Chargers were able to trim the lead to 6 with just under a minute to go, but that's as close as they would get, as Oakland made their free throws and finished with the 10-point win, 89-79.
Grant was key for the Chargers off the bench, knocking down 6-of-12 shots from long range and making both of his free throw attempts, scoring 20 points in total. Sophomore forward Jayden Sanders was outstanding in the second half, scoring 18 of his 24 points following the intermission. Sanders was 9-15 from the field and 5-7 from the line, plus he pulled down 7 rebounds in his final game in a Charger uniform. Oviedo finished third with 10 points in the contest, and Freshman Jordan Woods collected 13 rebounds and handed out 5 assists, in addition to scoring 8 points in the game.
A big congratulations to both Jayden Sanders and Jordan Woods for being named to the 6-player All-Tournament team!! The Men's Basketball season comes to an unfortunate end, following a nice 23-9 overall record and this run to the District A Championship. The entire Marian Ancilla community would like to thank all of these young men for their strong efforts this season on the court, and especially those who have just finished their 2-year run in a Charger uniform!! We are proud of you!!