PORTSMOUTH — The Shawnee State University men’s basketball team captured its first-ever River States Conference contest —with an 88-79 home win on Tuesday night over visiting Alice Lloyd College at Waller Gymnasium.

The Bears, now 4-2 prior to Thursday night’s exhibition at Division I Kent State of the Mid-American Conference, were able to start off the game strong — with eight early points from Keith Germain, who ended up finishing with 12 total.

This strong start was halted after Alice Lloyd went on a run of its own — highlighted by 13 first-half points from Jared Strickland, which included three made three-point goals.

This gave Alice Lloyd a 43-34 advantage over the Bears at the half.

However, the Bears were not done yet, as they went on their own run to start the second half — led by Tyreke Johnson with 10 quick points.

The Bears also helped themselves back into the game from their full-court pressure, as they were able to apply it on Alice Lloyd, forcing six second-half turnovers.

After the Bears went on their early run, they were further catapulted ahead by Elkin Ramirez’s 14 second-half points —which included four made three-pointers on five attempts for 80-percent.

Ramirez was shooting lights out midway through the half, and this allowed the Bears to play through him along with Johnson — as the two combined for 33 of the Bears’ 54 second-half points.

The Bears were able to hold onto their lead, despite committing 22 total turnovers.

The Bears had four players reach double digits in the scoring column, including Johnson with 19, Ramirez with 16, Germain with 12 and Tony Webb, Jr. with 11.

Alice Lloyd was led by Strickland’s 22 points, which paced all scorers.

The Bears will be back in action on Saturday, Dec. 2 — at Point Park University in Pittsburgh (Pa.) at 3 p.m.

Alice Lloyd College (Ky.) 71,

SSU Women 61

PORTSMOUTH — The Shawnee State University’s women’s basketball team lost its first RSC (River States Conference) game of the season on Tuesday evening, and first-ever RSC contest, 71-61 to visiting Alice Lloyd College.

The Bears dropped to a 6-2 record, and 0-1 in the RSC.

The Bears struggled the entire game from behind the arc, shooting 0-for-17 from the three-point line.

This struggle led to Alice Lloyd to use all of its energy to guard the paint and force Bear turnovers.

Alice Lloyd, on the other hand shot, 36-percent from beyond the arc — with a 9-of-25 performance as a team.

The Bears were led by senior Cianna Gloster in scoring with 19 points, and fellow senior Chianne Gloster helped contribute in the scoring column with 16 points.

Alice Lloyd’s Hannah Kash led all scorers with 30 points — going 8-of-14 from the field and 6-of-10 from behind the arc.

Abby Maggard also scored 15 points, while shooting 3-of-8 from the three-point line.

Both teams also committed 18 turnovers apiece and combined for 43 personal fouls — leading to 18 points from the charity stripe for Alice Lloyd, and 15 for the Bears.

Cianna Gloster posted 17 rebounds along with her 19 points, but it wasn’t enough to top Alice Lloyd’s performance from beyond the arc.

The Bears will be back in action on Saturday, Dec. 2 — at Point Park University in Pittsburgh (Pa.) at 1 p.m.