The Southern State Community College men’s basketball team picked up a pair of road wins prior to Christmas.

The Patriots defeated Kent State-Tuscarawas 60-43 on Dec. 16 and then posted an 86-83 win over Ohio University-Lancaster on Dec. 17. The game with Boyce scheduled for Dec. 19 was cancelled, SSCC coach Kelvin Gaines said.

“This was a huge weekend for us, especially on the road,” Gaines said. “We still have a tremendous amount of work ahead of us and areas to improve in but hopefully we can take some of this momentum into the beginning of the new year.”

Southern State is scheduled to host Ohio State-Mansfield on Jan. 8.

Against OU-Lancaster, Southern State played with just six players due to an illness to Andrew Percy.

“OU-Lancaster had a deep bench but we were able to maintain enough energy to overcome our lack of depth,” said Gaines. “Our particular players that we need to consistently play well, actually all played well at the same time.”

Caleb Allen led SSCC with 30 points, including several key baskets to seal the game, Gaines noted. Allen also had 8 rebounds and 4 assists. Alec Richardson, a Blanchester High School product, had 22 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists. Jakarr Frey had 18 points and 10 rebounds. Cam Carroll, another BHS graduate, had 16 points for the Patriots.

Against Kent St.-Tuscarawas, the Patriots overcame a tough shooting night thanks to a solid defensive effort, Gaines said.

“We had a tough shooting night, for the most part, but were able to get enough stops to maintain a solid lead,” said Gaines.

Frey had 26 points and 12 rebounds to pace the Patriot offense. Richardson had 9 points. Percy had 6 points, 5 assists and 2 blocked shots. Allen had 3 steals, 6 points and 5 rebounds and Carroll contributed 5 points.