Feb. 3, 2008
By Matt Daniels, Citizen Tribune

Before Saturday afternoon’s contest with Motlow State, Walters State’s A.J. Thomas wrote the number 61 on the board in the locker room and told his teammates, “We will not give up this many points.”

The prediction by Thomas prededed one of the best defensive efforts of the season by the Senators as No. 20 Walters State rolled to an impressive 87-56 victory over No. 15 Motlow State at ‘Z’ Buda Gymnasium.

With the victory, the Senators improved to 21-2 for the year, moving back into a first-place tie with the Bucks at 8-2 in TJCCAA action. The loss dropped Motlow to 20-3 and its their 16-game winning streak.

“This is one of the most complete games we have played so far and our defense was just outstanding,” Walters State coach Bill Carlyle said.

“I felt like the kids got some confidence early on when we jumped to the early lead and they just never let up. This was a huge win for us and it was over a great team with great players.”

The Senator defense was effective from the start as they held Tyree Evans, the leading scorer in the TJCCAA, to just four points in the first half and 14 for the game.

Terrance Britt was a tone setter on the defensive end with timely steals along with fellow backcourt mate Thomas breaking free in the second half.
Britt also played well offensively as his 16 points and 10 rebounds jump-started Walters State from the opening tip.

“I just wanted to bounce back strong from not playing well the last two games and coach challenged me to step up,” Britt said.

“I wanted to show my teammates as well that I had more heart and we all came out and played well together.”

The duo of Britt and Thomas, who scored 12 points each, provided the spark for the Senators while Sirlester Martin and Laquantis Stewart delivered the knockout blow.

Martin recorded a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds and Stewart led the team with 23 points in an impressive display on the interior.

“It was an overall great team effort and we had some great individual performances as well,” Carlyle said.

“I thought our guard play was impressive and we were very solid on the post as well. We limited our turnovers and we capitalized on the mistakes from Motlow.”

Walters State opened the game on an 11-2 run, and held a double digit lead for most of the first half before and 8-0 spurt by the Bucks late in the half cut into the lead.

But like most of the afternoon, the Senators had an answer that went unchallenged by Motlow. Britt nailed a trey and Thomas added a shot at the buzzer that built the lead to 40-30 at the half.

The Bucks held close early in the second half, but Stewart tallied 10 points over a six-minute span that sparked a 24-6 run that put Walters State on top 68-44.

The Senators continued to pour it on as a pair of dunks by Stewart and Michael Jenkins took the wind out of the sails for the Bucks.

Walters State shot a blistering 59.6 percent (34-of-57) from the field in the contest, including an 11-of-19 clip from behind the 3-point line. The only bad note for the Senators was from the free throw line as WSCC made just 8-of-15 from the charity stripe.

Motlow finished the contest shooting just 32.3 percent (21-of-65) from the floor and made paltry 4-of-23 from long distance.

The Bucks were also outrebounded by the Senators, 43-30.

Evans led Motlow with 14 points in the contest while Cliff Dixon, younger brother of the Seattle SuperSonics’ rookie Kevin Durant, added 11 points in the loss.

Walters State returns to the hardwood Wednesday night when they travel down I-75 to Madisonville to tangle with Hiwassee. The TJCCAA contest with the Tigers is scheduled for an 8 p.m. start.