COUGARS' CINDERELLA SEASON ENDS IN SWEET SIXTEEN

The Cleveland State Cougars season came to an end on Tuesday afternoon in Hutchinson (KS) as they fell to the #8 seed Ranger College out of Texas.  The Rangers took the lead early in the first half and would never trail on their way to an 83-66 win over the Cougars.

As the the game began, it was more about defense than about offense as both teams struggled early to find the bottom of the net.  With the score tied at six with fifteen minutes remaining in the half, Ranger would score the next nine points to take a lead they never relinquished.  Cleveland tried to stay close, but the Rangers kept them at an arm's length into the break where they led 38-30.  Demonte Person and Maurice Dickson kept Cleveland close with nine and seven points at the break.

Ranger would maintain anywhere form an eight to twelve point advantage as the second half played out, but they extended that lead midway through the final half on solid inside play.  They would build the lead to 20 with ten minutes to play.  Exavian Young and Kerry Pratt would have nine and seven points in the second half to lead the squad.

Cleveland would place four scorers in double figures as Dickson led with 13 points and a team six rebounds.  Pratt would finish the contest with 12 points.  Person and Young would each end with 11 with Person leading with four assists.

The Cougars would hit 38.9% of their shots from the field compared to Ranger's 48.2%.  The Cougars see their season end with an overall record of 16-16.