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The Montcalm Community College Centurions men’s basketball team suffered its first road loss of the season at the hands of Community Christian, 92-77, Saturday, Nov. 23. 

It was a tale of two halves, as MCC (0-0 MCCAA Northern, 2-5 overall) fell behind in the first half, suffering through scoring droughts and facing a 15-point deficit at halftime. Although the Centurions went shot-for-shot with the Lions (5-2 overall) in the second half, each scoring 55 points, they were unable to wipe out the first-half deficit. 

The Centurions came out flat in the first half as the Lions shot out to a 19-4 lead after guard Daiquan Coach nailed a three-point bucket with 12:10 to go, which was the fourth three-pointer the Lions made in that stretch. 

After a five-minute scoring drought, MCC finally responded with a jump shot by freshman forward Mason Dunn (Big Rapids, Mich.), followed by a bucket from freshman guard Caleb Clements (Greenville, Mich.) a minute later, to make it 19-8 with 10:20 to go in the half.  

MCC fell further behind as CC’s Andre Forbes made a shot and was fouled, sinking his free throw to complete a three-point play, making it 22-8, and then followed that up with a three-point shot to push the lead to 17 at the 8:32 mark. 

Freshman forward Brayden Clark (Carson City, Mich.) began a small Centurions comeback after making a layup with 4:28 to go and freshman guard Andrew Badder (Imlay, Mich.) hit a three-pointer to bring MCC to a 33-18 deficit. 

Clements, who led MCC with 20 points, his season-high, followed it up with a jump shot with 3:33 to go, making it 34-20.  

The Lions went into halftime with a 37-22 lead. 

“There were a couple things that didn’t go our way,” said Asher Vissman, MCC assistant coach, about the Centurions’ first-half play. “Turnovers and we made self-inflicted mistakes that cost us in the beginning.” 

Vissman also pointed out the comparison of free throw opportunities for both teams, with the Lions shooting 5-for-8 at the line and the Centurions getting only one shot, which they missed.  

In the second half, freshman forward Dawson Dunn (Big Rapids, Mich.) came on strong for the Centurions, scoring all his 15 points while Clements chipped in 12 as MCC kept pace with CC.  

Dawson Dunn nailed a three-pointer within the first minute to make it 37-25, however, the Lions went on an 8-0 run to take back momentum.  

MCC didn’t back down, however, drawing within 12 points after Clements hit a jumper with 13:01 left. 

Two minutes later, Dawson Dunn hit a three-pointer to make it 54-41, forcing CC to call a timeout. 

“In the second half, we ramped up the pressure on defense and that led us on a run,” Vissman said. “We made some big shots to keep us in it.” 

The Centurions got back-to-back scores when Dawson Dunn came up with another three-pointer three minutes later and Clark scored on a layup, cutting the lead to 56-46 with 10 minutes to go in the game.  

A minute-and-half later, Mason Dunn rebounded his own missed three-pointer, which set up a jump shot from freshman guard Dorian Allen (Winter Haven, Fla.), which cut the Lions’ lead to an 11-point lead.  

The Centurions would cut the Lions’ lead to single digits after Dawson Dunn hit a layup with 8:28 on the clock, giving MCC hope it could make a complete comeback, however, the Lions managed to bump their lead to 16 when they got back-to-back layups with a steal in between. 

The Centurions made one more offensive push with less than four minutes to go in the game as Allen got back-to-back layups after a he stole the ball from Lions’ Terrance Partridge, to cut the lead to 77-66. CC’s Willie Williams answered with a three-point play and then CC forced a turnover, which Coach took back for a fastbreak dunk, to give the Lions an 82-66 lead with three minutes to go. 

Though the Centurions would outscore the Lions 11-10 the last three minutes, they were never able to overcome the large lead the Lions established in the first half. 

Along with leading the team in scoring, Clements also collected six rebounds. Dawson Dunn finished with 15 points, followed by Cark with 13.  

Mason Dunn led the team in rebounds with eight and Allen finished with eight assists and eight points.  

Despite the loss, Vissman saw good things in the Centurions’ performance, one being Clements’ offensive outburst. 

“Caleb was the biggest bright spot of the game,” Vissman said. “He was fantastic. He played freely and confidently.  Vissman said Clements was able to use his skills to his advantage to put up his career-high in points.  

“Anytime you can get a spark like that off the bench, it really gets the team going,” Vissman said. 

UP NEXT: 

The Centurions will be hosting a four-team tournament in the inaugural Montcalm County Shootout Tournament, Saturday, Nov. 30-Dec. 1, with Kuyper College, Grand Rapids Community College and Battle Ground Prep competing. MCC will face Battle Ground Prep Saturday, with tip-off at 7 p.m., and then will face Kuyper at 3 p.m. on Sunday. 

Media inquiries, please contact:

Shelly Springborn
Director of Communications and Public Relations
shellys@montcalm.edu
989-560-0833