MUSSIE DOUBLE-DOUBLE LEADS ROANE STATE PAST CLEVELAND STATE

CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Roane State Raiders head coach Alan Holt believes his team has found their identity, and on Wednesday night at Cleveland State they showed it, flexing their defensive speed and strength on route to a 73-64 conference win.

Adonai Mussie posted a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds, anchoring the interior while adding three blocks. The 6-foot-10 sophomore has recorded back-to-back double-doubles and drew praise from coach Alan Holt for his versatility.

"He's been really, really good for us," Holt said. "He's just been really consistent, and able to guard a lot of positions and able to rebound the basketball."

Mussie is playing to the level of a candidate for conference defensive player of the year, currently near the top of the conference in blocks and rebounding.

"This has been our best defensive group as a unit since I have been here," Holt said. "And Adonai has been an enormous part of that."

The game remained close through the first half, with the Raiders holding a slim 33-31 lead at the break, but Roane State outscored the Cougars 40-33 in the second half, building its largest advantage of 10 points late in the game.

The Raiders forced Cleveland State into 24 turnovers, converting those into 34 points while limiting fast-break opportunities for the Cougars. Despite being outrebounded 43-37, Roane State's pressure defense and transition play proved decisive.

"We're starting to kind of find our identity, and develop how we want to play," Holt said. "We're really unselfish. We had five guys scoring in double figures. So now we are starting to play the brand of basketball we want to play."

Dashawn Hall-Johnson led Roane State with 16 points, Mikey Carpenter added 14, Jordan Hamilton contributed 10 points and nine assists, and Towan Siler scored 10 off the bench as well.

"We were able to force them into 24 turnovers for the game, which is what we want to do," he said. "I think we made a big jump as far as being able to do that and impose our will defensively."

Roane State shot 45.6% from the field (26 of 57), including 8 of 26 from 3-point range, and dished out 20 assists. The Raiders improved to 9-6 overall and 5-2 in conference.

Holt credited recent non-conference games, including a tight contest against No. 2-ranked Vincennes, for building confidence.

"Being able to see that we're able to play at that high level and see how hard you have to play consistently to be at that level helps our team immensely," Holt said.

On the win, Holt highlighted reduced turnovers, faster pace and defensive pressure, but looking ahead, he identified offense as the primary area for improvement for the Raiders.

"We just got to continue to get better offensively," Holt said. "I think that's been our Achilles heel for the most of this season so far."

Roane State continues conference play this Saturday, January 10, on the road at Jackson State. Tip off is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET.