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After establishing a 10-point lead at halftime, the Montcalm Community College Centurions men’s basketball team’s offense exploded in the second half to win 83-47 over Alma College’s junior varsity team, Tuesday, Nov. 19.

Freshman guard Taylen Carver (Louisville, Ky.) led the Centurions (0-0 MCCAA Northern, 2-4 overall) with a season-high 29 points, scoring 17 of them in the second half to help the Centurions outscore Alma 45-19 to put the game away for their second win of the season.

MCC jumped out to a 12-5 lead after Carver nailed his first basket of the night, a three-pointer five minutes into the game. The Centurions pushed their lead to 21-9 when freshman forward Caleb Clements (Greenville, Mich.) hit a jumper at the 8:32 mark.

With a 38-28 lead at halftime, the Centurions continued the offensive pressure, establishing a 46-31 lead with Carver knocking down back-to-back three-pointers for MCC.

 “We came out with the mindset to keep our foot on the gas when we have the lead and keep adding on to it,” Carver said. “We made sure to not let them keep hanging around with us and keep pulling away more and more each possession we got.”

Carver would add a two-point bucket less than a minute later, followed by a three-point shot by Clements to push the Centurions’ lead to 51-34 with just over 12 minutes to go.

After another Carver three-pointer, MCC’s freshman guard Mason Dunn (Big Rapids, Mich.) hit a bucket to give the Centurions a 20-point lead with just under 11 minutes to go.  Alma would draw no closer for the rest of the game, as MCC went on a 26-10 scoring run to finish out the game.

In past games, Carver said he tried too hard to get his scoring going. At Tuesday’s game, he let the game come to him.

“Anytime I saw a gap and an opportunity to score, I made sure I took it and made sure that I stayed composed and knocked my shots down,” he said.

Centurions Assistant Coach Asher Vissman was impressed with how his team owned the second half after what he believed was a flat performance in the first half.

“We really turned it around,” Vissman said. “We came out flat, and us coaches really challenged them to play with urgency in the second half.”

Vissman said the team managed to set a balanced pace that kept them ahead in the second half.

“We did a good job of running and getting easy buckets,” he said. “Also, slowing it down and executing our offense.”

Carver finished 7-of-10 from the three-point mark and, with teammate Dawson Dunn (Big Rapids, Mich.), led the team in rebounds, each with six. Teammates Brayden Clark (Carson City, Mich.), Gabe Daniel (Erie, Mich.) and Makur Reclow all scored eight points each. Dorian Allen (Winter Haven, Fla.) led the team in assists with seven.

UP NEXT:

After enjoying a six-game home stand to start the season, the Centurions will play their first road game at Community Christian (Detroit, Mich.) this Saturday, with game time starting at 3 p.m. The Lions are 4-1 overall and 2-0 at home so far this season.

The Centurions will then have a week off until Saturday, Nov. 30, when they host the Montcalm County Shootout Tournament.

SCORE BOARD:

            1^st H    2^nd H   Total

Alma   28        19        47

MCC   38        45        83