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The Montcalm Community College Centurions men’s basketball team fell to Marian University Ancilla, 87-57, during a home “Green Out” game Saturday, Nov. 16.

Turnovers and cold shooting riddled MCC’s box score as the Chargers performed in the opposite direction, keeping down its turnovers while shooting well and getting second-chance shots throughout the night. The Chargers (0-0 MCAA Western, 6-0 overall) outrebounded the Centurions 44-27, collecting 13 offensive rebounds on the night, giving them a 20-5 advantage in second-chance points.

Marian also outscored MCC 25-14 with points off turnovers.

“Our Achilles heel, so far, has been turnovers,” said Asher Vissman, MCC assistant coach. “When we limit our turnovers, we’re right in the game. When we shoot ourselves in the foot, the game gets away from us.”

Rebounding is another area Vissman believes the Centurions must continue to improve on, which the team has worked hard on since playing preseason scrimmages.

“We preach it in practice and we’ve improved,” Vissman said.

However, he added not having 6-foot, 9-inch-tall center Josiah DeMeester (Grandville, Mich.) in the paint – owing to injury – has weakened MCC’s rebounding abilities.

The Centurions (0-0 MCAA Northern, 1-4 overall) established an early 10-7 lead with a three-point shot by freshman forward Brayden Clark (Carson City, Mich.), assisted by freshman center Gabe Daniel (Erie, Mich.), but then the Chargers went on a 14-4 run to lead 21-14 after MUA’s Sean Kimble drained a three-point shot with 12:47 in the first half.

Marian shot 9-for-19 from the three-point line and hit all five of its free throws in the second half, holding a 35-25 lead with five minutes to go in the half. MCC would go only 2-of-8 the rest of the half with Marian outscoring them 14-5 in that stretch to take a 49-30 lead into halftime.

In the second half, turnovers handcuffed the Centurions as they committed 12 of them to the Chargers’ five.

MCC was able to cut Marian’s lead to 12 (51-39) at the 16:29 mark when Clark hit a layup, however, the Centurions’ offense sputtered from there, not scoring for another three minutes until freshman guard Taylen Carver (Louisville, Ky.) hit a three-pointer to make it 63-42 with 13:19 to go.

With Marian leading 63-46 with 12 minutes to go, a glimmer of hope for a comeback still hung in the balance, however, MCC’s shooting went cold again as it was held scoreless for more than six minutes until freshman forward Makur Reclow (Louisville, Ky) sank two free throws, making it 80-47 with 5:37 to go in the game.

MCC held Marian below its game average of 95 points per game. The Chargers have scored more than 100 points in three of its six contests, so far.

“The biggest thing I took away from this game was that we didn’t back down,” Vissman said. “They went on a couple runs, but we responded by running our stuff. For the most part, we kept the game at our pace. We made strides, even though the scoreboard didn’t show it.”

Vissman said he was impressed with freshman forward Dawson Dunn (Big Rapids, Mich.) and freshman guard Dorian Allen (Winter Haven, Fla.).

“Dawson’s defense and his intensity has been outstanding, exactly what the team needs,” Vissman said. “Dorian has been great on both ends. He always seems to get a good bucket when we need it.”

Clark led MCC’s scoring with 13 points while Reclow collected seven rebounds and Allen led the team in assists with five.

UP NEXT: The Centurions travel to Community Christian on Saturday, Nov. 23. Game time is 3 p.m.