News

By Ryan Schlehuber, MCC Sportswriter

Sometimes an entire game can be decided by one play.  

Such was the case for the Montcalm Community College Centurions men’s basketball team, which turned over possession of the ball in the waning seconds of the game against Muskegon Community College, resulting in a 79-75 loss Wednesday, Feb. 12. 

The match-up against the Jayhawks (7-2 MCCAA Northern, 14-9 overall) went back and forth throughout the game for the Centurions (4-5 MCCAA Northern, 10-13 overall), who were down 75-70 with 1:37 to go in the game. 

MCC began making a comeback with a three-point bucket by freshman forward Mason Dunn (Big Rapids, Mich.) with 1:20 to go. Dunn finished with a career-high 20 points and collected 12 rebounds on the night. 

The Centurions then forced a Jayhawks turnover and, on the offensive end, with 33 seconds left, freshman guard Taylen Carver (Louisville, Ky.) drew a shooting foul on Muskegon’s Darious Williams. Carver tied the game at 75-75 by sinking both free throws. 

Muskegon then caught a break, as freshman forward Makur Reclow (Louisville, Ky.) fouled Jayhawks’ Joe Russau with 11 seconds to go. Russau then sank both free throws to give Muskegon the lead, 77-75. 

With fouls to give, the Jayhawks began intentionally fouling MCC players to bleed out the clock, but the Centurions had one more chance to either tie or win the game with three seconds left.  

Dunn said the Centurions had set up an in-bound play to have freshman guard Jack Ruggles (Big Rapids, Mich.) throw the ball to freshman guard Dorian Allen (Winter Haven, Fla.) to get a shot set up. 

“Jack threw it to Dorian and a Muskegon player ended up touching it before it went out of bounds, but (the referees) called it Muskegon’s ball and then we had to foul and they made both free throws to seal the game,” Dunn said. “Our focus is on Alpena now and we need to essentially win out to get where we want to be. It’ll be interesting.” 

The loss was the Centurions’ third consecutive, and with five regular season games left, it’s made things tighter in the race to finish in the top four of the MCCAA Northern Division to clinch a spot in the postseason. 

“We made a couple mistakes down the stretch and a couple calls did not go our way,” Centurions assistant head coach Asher Vissman said. “You never want to lose a game like that, but you can always look back on the rest of the game and find possessions that could have changed the game.” 

The Jayhawks had a sizable advantage in free throws, going 18-of-24 on the game compared to the Centurions’ 7-of-8. MCC was also outrebounded, 43-35.  

Dunn felt those two statistics spelled the game. 

“They were in the bonus for a while and we had to rebound better and get back on defense better, too,” Dunn said. “I should’ve made a shot or two more, as well.” 

Ball protection was also in Muskegon’s favor, as the Jayhawks forced MCC into 17 turnovers to their 11, which resulted in 22 points off turnovers for Muskegon.  

Perhaps even more frustrating was the fact MCC had a 14-point lead at one point in the first half, leading 35-21 after Carver nailed a three-pointer with 5:19 to go. Muskegon managed to pull back within four before halftime, however, going on a 16-2 scoring run to make things close again. 

In the second half, MCC kept ahead of Muskegon, as freshman guard Dawson Dunn (Big Rapids, Mich.) gave the Centurions a 58-53 lead with 13:20 to go in the game but, four minutes later, the Jayhawks cut MCC’s lead to only two with a layup and a free throw from Ny’Zhem Marshall.  

The Jayhawks finally took the lead on a Kevon Washington three-pointer with 9:21 to go, though Mason Dunn reclaimed it for MCC, hitting a three-pointer of his own with 7:27 go to. 

Muskegon then built a 69-65 lead with another Washington three-pointer with 5:23 to go. MCC eventually tied it, 75-75, on Carver’s two free throws, which set up the final seconds of drama.  

“We had 17 turnovers, which is turning out to be one of our biggest weaknesses,” Vissman said. “We just cannot turn it over that many times and expect to have success. I thought we executed well in the first half, but 11 of those turnovers came in the second half.” 

Carver finished with a game-high 27 points and had five assists while Mason Dunn, to go along with his 20 points and 12 rebounds, also had five assists. Dawson Dunn finished with 17 points. 

Muskegon was led by Russau, with 24 points, and Washington, who finished with 20 points. 

MCC will have a rematch with Muskegon on the road Monday, Feb. 17. 

UP NEXT: MCC will travel to Alpena Community College (1-9 MCCAA Northern, 2-17 overall) to take on the Lumberjacks, starting at 3 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 15. MCC remains in fourth place in the division, just ahead of 4-6 Delta College, while Alpena is tied with North Central Michigan for last place.