News

By Ryan Schlehuber, MCC Sportswriter

Facing a top-ranked team in the nation most often means playing your game against them.  

On Wednesday, Feb. 5, the Montcalm Community College Centurions men’s basketball team found out what happens when they don’t play its best against one of the best, losing 96-73. 

“We missed some layups and shots we normally make early in the game,” Assistant Coach Asher Vissman said. “We also got into foul trouble early and they took advantage of that.” 

The Centurions (4-3 MCCAA Northern, 10-11 overall) committed eight fouls within the first 10 minutes of the game, as well, which, combined with MCC’s poor shooting, helped the Lakers (8-0 MCCAA Northern, 19-3 overall) build a 26-11 lead, capped off by a three-point bucket from Vynce Overshown with just over 10 minutes to go in the half.  

The Lakers built their lead to 41-21 after a three-point make by Joe Iung with two minutes left, taking a 49-25 lead at halftime. 

Though the Centurions couldn’t erase the Lakers’ 24-point lead it built, MCC did manage to match Mid Michigan shot for shot in the second half, outscoring them 48-47. 

The Lakers pushed their lead to 30 after De’Antre Griffin dropped in a free throw, which was followed up with an Iung bucket to make it 62-32 four-and-a-half minutes into the second half. Mid extended its lead to 73-34 with a pair of free throws from Griffin two minutes later. 

The Centurions were able to cut into the Lakers’ lead after Mid established a 91-52 lead from an Overshown jump shot. Freshman center Josiah DeMeester (Grandville, Mich.) and freshman guard Taylen Carver (Louisville, Ky.) took turns scoring for the Centurions, one scoring after another, topped off by sinking two free throws to make it 91-66 with 4:20 left. 

MCC finished its scoring with three-point buckets by freshman forward Gabe Daniel (Erie, Mich.) and freshman guard Andrew Badder (Imlay City, Mich.). 

Carver led the team in scoring with 30 points, with DeMeester finishing with 14. DeMeester also had seven rebounds, which led the team. 

Mid Michigan was led by Amonti Green’s 28 points, followed by Iung with 18 and Griffin with 11 points. 

The Centurions turned the ball over 17 times, which lead to 24 points for the Lakers, who only turned the ball over three times the entire game. Mid Michigan outshot MCC from the three-point line, shooting 11-of-31 (35.5%) to MCC’s 5-of-13 (38.5%), and won the free throw battle, shooting 15-of-23 to MCC’s 8-of-14. 

Despite the loss, Vissman said the Centurions can still build on recent success it had in previous games as they face two of the top teams in the MCCAA Northern in the next two games — Bay College (Feb. 8) and Muskegon Community College (Feb. 12), which are just ahead of MCC in the division standings. 

“We have some things to build on from the last couple games,” Vissman said. “We do a lot of good things. We just need to play two full halves of good ball.” 

UP NEXT: The Centurions travel to the Upper Peninsula to Escanaba to take on the No. 22-ranked Bay College Norse (6-2 MCCAA Northern, 17-5 overall) Saturday, Feb. 8. Game time is 3 p.m. MCC won the first meeting, a 76-70 upset at home, in which Carver scored a career-high 46 points.