Logan uses big start to beat Three Rivers

CARTERVILLE - The John A. Logan College men's basketball team blitzed Three Rivers with a 19-0 run to start the game and beat the Raiders, 95-81, Tuesday night at Brewer Gymnasium.

Logan, which moved up to No. 15 in the latest NJCAA Division I national rankings, is now 10-1.

Three Rivers, which fell to 9-3 after having an eight-game win streak snapped, has lost to Logan twice this season.

Aaron Twist made a block and then converted a putback on Logan's end and Romeo Burrell drew a charge during the Vols' big opening run. The lead was 14-0 after a 3-pointer from Jaiveon Eaves and reached 19-0 after Ronnie Carson hit three free throws and Vonnie Patterson scored at the 14:20 mark.

After the Raiders scored their first point on a free throw, Eaves made it 21-1 before the first media timeout, during which Logan coach Kyle Smithpeters encouraged his team to "not let up."

Three Rivers started scoring, but the Vols didn't stop. Derek Hawthorne Jr. put down a pretty alley-oop slam and both David Sloan and Damion Taylor scored to keep the lead at 20 points.

And when Jonah Jackson drilled a 3-pointer with just over 10 minutes still left in the first half, the Volunteers had nine players marked in the scorebook.

Logan's biggest lead was 27 points at 46-19 after Eaves hit his third triple with six minutes remaining in the first half.

The lead was 55-30 at the break. Carson and Eaves both had 15 points in the opening stanza. Carson finished with 20 and Eaves had 19.

And despite all that, one of the stars of the game hadn't even scored yet. Quamain Nelson scored all 10 of his points in the second half after Taylor was deemed injured and unavailable to return.

Nelson gave the Vols four players in double figures as Hawthorne also finished with 10. Sloan added nine and both Taylor and Burrell had eight.

Three Rivers scored the first seven points of the second half and got as close as 12 when a 3-pointer by Chris Stocks made it 73-61 with 8:54 left, but the Vols didn't let the Raiders get any closer.

Logan plays at West Kentucky Tech in Paducah on Thursday at 6 p.m., then hosts No. 2-ranked Vincennes on Monday night.

NOTES: Even with an impressive 95 points, the Vols didn't quite reach their usual average of 100.6 points per game. ... Logan committed just 10 turnovers in the game and started the game with 10 straight stops. ... Marion's Justin Shadowens played the final five minutes of the first half and did not score but was credited with an assist.