News Releases

Owens Community College Express Men’s Basketball Opens Season Against Morton College, Nov. 2

PERRYSBURG TOWNSHIP, Ohio – Owens Community College men’s basketball will begin its 2012-13 campaign with a season-opening contest against Morton College at the Triton College Tournament in River Grove, Ill. on Friday, Nov. 2. The game will begin at 6 p.m.

The Express will open its home season against Lorain County Community College on Tuesday, Nov. 6. The start time is 7:30 p.m. Home games will occur in the College’s Student Health and Activities Center on the Toledo-area Campus. Owens is located on Oregon Road in Perrysburg Township.

The Owens men’s basketball program is led by second-year Head Coach David Clarke. His Assistant Coaches are Keith Raine and Carl Thomas. Owens finished the 2011-12 season with a 24-8 overall record and a 9-3 mark (second place) in the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference regular season standings. The Express lost to Lakeland Community College in the finals of the NJCAA Region XII Championships.

“Expectations are high for this year,” stated Clarke. “We have a great group of veterans and an extremely talented group of incoming freshmen that are playing very well as a team during the preseason. Our depth is a huge advantage as we expect to use a lot of players off the bench. The men’s basketball student-athletes and coaches are really looking forward to beginning the season and competing for a conference title and a possible trip to the national championship tournament.”

Owens has five returning players, including Justin Edmonds of Albion, Mich. (Albion H.S.), James Kelly of Ann Arbor, Mich. (Pioneer H.S.) and Jay Marquette of Rossford (Central Catholic H.S.). During the 2011-12 season, Edmonds earned NJCAA All-Region XII First Team and OCCAC All-Conference First Team honors. The sophomore guard averaged 18.8 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists for the Express. Kelly, a sophomore forward, averaged 17.5 points, 9.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks during the season. Additionally, he was an OCCAC All-Conference Second Team selection. Marquette is a sophomore guard and averaged 5.5 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists last year.

Clarke’s team also includes returning sophomores Franklin Lindsey of Toledo, guard (Whitmer H.S.) at 4.8 points and 3.8 rebounds per game and Kelvin Clark of Chicago, guard (Bogan H.S.) at 4.3 points and 2.3 rebounds per game.

First-year players at Owens are Andy Bachman of Fort Wayne, Ind., small forward (North Side H.S.); Javon Rice of Dayton, point guard (Dunbar H.S.); Markese Allen of Detroit, point guard (Crockett H.S.); Cody Begley of Tekonsha, Mich., guard (Tekonsha H.S.); Joe Retic II of Fishers, Ind., point guard (Fishers H.S.); Tony Boykins of Kalamazoo, Mich., guard (Loy Norrix H.S.); Reneillio Morrison of Kingston, Jamaica, forward/center (Florida State University H.S.); Darius Washington of Toledo, forward/center (Start H.S.), and Chris Wilson of Danville, Ill., forward (Start H.S.).

Owens Community College is an accredited two-year, state-assisted institution of higher education that has served Northwest Ohio since 1965. With a commitment to providing small classes, personal attention and unmatched affordability, the College serves the diverse academic needs of credit and non-credit students on the Toledo-area and Findlay-area campuses, as well as at the Arrowhead Park Learning Center in Maumee and the Learning Center at The Source in downtown Toledo. Owens offers associate degrees that transfer to baccalaureate degrees in the Arts and Sciences and over 130 technical program areas in Agriculture, Business, Health Sciences, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Skilled Trades, and Engineering and Transportation Technologies. Owens students also can earn the first two years of a bachelor’s degree with a smooth transfer to any area four-year college or university. For more information, visit www.owens.edu.