Savannah, Georgia-The final contest of the first full day of the 2024 Cricket SIAC Basketball Championships was the epitome of the phrase "Survive and Advance" for the East Division's #6 seed Edward Waters. The Purple & Orange were able to hold off a stiff challenge from West Division #7 seed Central State to earn a 70-66 victory in their Opening Round matchup at Tiger Arena.

Edward Waters (11-17, 9-11 SIAC) could not get much separation from Central State (3-25, 2-15 SIAC) in the first half of the contest as both squads went neck and neck. The Marauders in fact had a four-point lead near the midway portion of the half, when a quick 7-0 run gave the Tigers a 19-16 lead with 6:06 remaining. CSU fired back with a 5-0 run of their own to seize control of the contest at 21-19 with five minutes left but EWU would battle back themselves down the stretch to go into the locker room tied at 27-27.

The Marauders controlled a good chunk of the second half leading the way at the midway point. CSU led by as many a six points with 6:32 left in the half, when an EWU 5-0 run tied the contest up at 58-58 with 3:11 left. From there, EWU was able to show their offensive superiority and close the contest on a 12-8 run to earn their second straight win over Central State this season and advance to the Round of 11.

The Tigers shot 47% from the floor on 27-47 shooting, while holding CSU to 33% on 21-63 shooting. Edward Waters also had a 40-18 edge in points in the paint, a 17-13 advantage in bench points, and also scored 10 points off of six Marauder turnovers.

Goliath Mitchell led a Tiger trio in double figure scoring with 23 points on 9-15 shooting, while also adding five boards to his final stat line. Trevino Glover chipped in with 13 points off of the bench, while Jeremiah Kwarteng had 12 for Edward Waters.

The Purple & Orange move on to face Spring Hill on Wednesday evening at 5:00pm. The contest will be aired live on ESPN+.

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