Hornets Struggle to Put Away Pioneers

ST. LOUIS, MO - Harris Stowe State College had a difficult time putting away the Pioneers of Crowley's Ridge College on Monday night. The Hornets, ranked 28th in the latest NAIA national poll, was looking to add win number 19 on their season.

Harris Stowe, the projected three seed in the upcoming American Midwest Conference Tournament, took a 12 point lead into the half and held on through a couple of CRC runs to pull out a 14 point win.

Harris Stowe shot 49.3% from the field on the night including six of 18 from the three point line. The Hornets out-rebounded the Pioneers 44 to 41 on the night. The Hornets had 28 turnovers to help keep CRC in the game. The Hornets managed to score 34 points off CRC's 28 turnovers of their own. The Pioneers only capitilized with 16 points off Harris Stowe turnovers.

CRC shot 36.5% from the field and only five of 19 from the three point line on the night.

Harris Stowe jumped out to an early lead before CRC's Fred Moore tied the score at 3-3. Andrew Church made a Pioneer three pointer to move CRC to within four points at 16-12 with 12:26 to play in the first half. The Hornets took a 44-32 lead into the half.

Freshman Braeden Williams made the big shots for CRC in the second half. Williams made a basket with 12:37 to play in the second half to cut the Hornets lead to six points at 54-48. He followed with two free throws with 10:51 to play to keep CRC close at 58-50. A late basket by Williams keep the Hornets lead at 11 points at 82-71 with 2:03 to play.

Williams led all scorers with 25 points, including a perfect 12 of 12 from the free throw line. Chris Bernard added 15 points for the Pioneers and Randy Stanley chipped in 13 points in the loss.