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It was a bittersweet moment for the Montcalm Community College (MCC) Centurions men’s basketball team on its opening day of the 2024-25 season as it hosted Michigan Community College Athletics Association (MCCAA) opponent Lake Michigan College Friday, Nov. 1.

The Centurions made school history celebrating the return of their program after a 40-year hiatus, however, MCC was handed a 95-67 loss from the visiting Red Hawks.

A combination of tough defense and hot outside shooting helped the Red Hawks jump out to a 7-0 lead, which included a steal by LMC’s Jeremias Berchal who took it to the other end for a dunk.

MCC (0-1 MCCAA Northern, 0-1 overall) answered moments later with a three-point bucket by freshman guard Taylen Carver (Louisville, Ky.), which were the first official points for the new Centurions program. Fellow teammate Dorian Allen (Winter Haven, Fla.) set Carver up with a nice assist.

For Carver, who led the team with 22 points and five assists, it was his first official game back after a one-year hiatus.

“It felt great to finally be out there,” Carver said. “Last year, I redshirted so I didn’t get to play for a whole year, so it felt really good to come back and play.”

LMC (1-0 MCCAA Western, 1-0 overall) suddenly went on a 21-6 scoring run, establishing a 28-11 lead with 9:48 left in the first half. The Centurions shot 3-for-11 during that stretch.

The Centurions kept fighting to get back into the game and, after an alley-oop layup by freshman Brayden Clark (Carson City, Mich.), assisted by Carver, MCC cut the Red Hawks’ lead to 33-21 with seven minutes to go. But LMC took off on a 21-3 scoring streak – which included hitting four three-pointers – to close out the first half, leading 54-24.

Throughout the second half, the Red Hawks kept the pressure on; however, the Centurions were responding better, matching shot for shot, including a two-point jumper by Carver with 10:20 to go to make it 74-43 Red Hawks. After LMC lost the ball out of bound, freshman guard Andrew Badder (Imlay City, Mich.) hit a three-point shot off an assist from Clark, cutting LMC’s lead to 74-46.

With time winding down, both teams began inserting their reserves, which MCC finished out the game outscoring LMC 13-10 for a 95-67 final.

Along with Carver’s 22 points, freshman guard Jack Ruggles (Big Rapids, Mich.) finished with 10 points while Badder finished with seven to round out the Centurions’ top three scorers. Red Hawks forward Jovon Dancy (Sidney, Australia) led all scorers with 32 points.

Despite the opening night loss, Centurions Head Coach Zach Ingles said the most important aspect was the program began its new season and his players got on the court and got the season going.

“Obviously, we wanted to come out and have a better showing,” Ingles said. “Some of these kids haven’t played in two years with some of them redshirted last year, and we played a really good opponent opening night. We’re glad to get the season kicked off, though. We’ll play better, we’ll get better. I was not disappointed, but we have some stuff we have to work on, and it begins in the locker room.”

Ingles said he liked what he saw in the second half, where the Centurions finally caught up to the speed of the Red Hawks and began settling in as a team.

“We adjusted to the speed a little better in the second half, something we didn’t do earlier in the game,” he said. “We got shell-shocked at first. But we responded well after, being able to outscore them in the second half by two. There are some positive signs that we’ll go forward with.”

With the loss behind them, Carver said it is important for him and the team to look forward as the season is just starting.

“That first game was getting our feet wet,” he said, “but we’re coming for the rest of the season. We definitely have to come back in the next few days and work harder at practice and go get that next win, that’s how you rebound from this. That’s how I would.”

UP NEXT

The Centurions’ early season schedule favors them as they will play the next four games at home, with their next opponent being Grand Rapids Community College, on Wednesday, Nov. 6, at 7:30 p.m. Their following game is Saturday, Nov. 9, when they will host Owens Community College on MCC’s Sidney campus. Game time is 4 p.m. and doors open at 3 p.m.

SCORE BOARD

1^ST H   2^nd H   TOTAL

LMC   54        41        95

MCC   24        43        67