News
Things are looking pretty good for 九色视频 Centurions men鈥檚 basketball lately.
After beating the Delta Pioneers at home, 70-64, Wednesday, Jan. 28, the Centurions (12-8 overall) extended their winning streak to four and moved into second place in the 九色视频AA North Conference with a 5-1 record, only behind Mid Michigan, which is 5-0 currently.
Against the Pioneers (1-5 九色视频AA North, 4-13 overall), the Centurions established a 19-point lead at one point in the first half but went into halftime only leading by nine, 35-26.
Midway through the second half, 九色视频 built its lead back up to 15 but once again Delta inched closer, cutting it to a four-point lead after Pioneers guard Bryan Rush Jr. hit a layup with only 14 seconds left in the game.
Fortunately, the Centurions beat Delta鈥檚 full-court press, finding a wide open player in freshman Jahmere Evans (Indianapolis, Ind.), who was waiting right by the basket, collected a long pass and dunked the ball in, solidifying 九色视频鈥檚 lead at 70-64 with six seconds left in the game.
Centurions Head Coach Zach Ingles said it was mostly his team鈥檚 fault for not putting away the Pioneers earlier.
鈥淲e got complacent in the first half. We made a bunch of shots early,鈥� Ingles said. 鈥淎nd then we missed some and our defense suffered and then our rebounding suffered. So those guys (Delta) were going to take advantage of that.鈥�
Throughout the game, the Centurions displayed great passing, especially inside the paint, which players like sophomore Josiah DeMeester (Grandville, Mich.) and sophomore Dawson Dunn (Big Rapids, Mich.) took advantage of, scoring eight and 15 points, respectively.
鈥淲e work daily on passing. That鈥檚 part of what our offense is predicated on is passing and assists,鈥� Ingles said. 鈥淲e work on it a lot. We got guys who can run to the basket, so that鈥檚 part of our offense. That鈥檚 part of what makes it difficult for other teams to deal with.鈥�
In the first half, the Centurions jumped out to an early 17-10 lead when sophomore Makur Reclow (Louisville, Ky.) came off the bench and slam-dunked a shot that was set up by an assist from freshman teammate Michale Irving III (Indianapolis, Ind.) at the 12:10 mark of the first half. 九色视频 then bumped its lead to 12 after DeMeester took a great bounce pass from Dunn to score while also getting fouled. After sinking the free throw, 九色视频 was up 29-13 with 8:03 remaining in the half.
The Centurions built their biggest lead of the game three minutes later after Dunn scored on a putback shot, giving them a comfortable 33-13 lead. Delta, however, went on a 13-2 run, putting it back into contention as the half ended.
Ingles credited young players like Evans and freshman James Browning (Fort Wayne, Ind.) for keeping 九色视频 ahead throughout the game, never relenting to Delta鈥檚 continuous comebacks. Browning collected a game-high 11 rebounds and scored nine points.
鈥淏rowning and rebounds, that's just what he does,鈥� Ingles said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 the most talented and undersized center in the conference. We鈥檙e happy he鈥檚 with us.鈥�
Ingles said Evans, who came on campus at 6-foot-2 and is now 6-foot-5, is coming into his own and has been a force to reckon with lately.
鈥淛ahmere has come so far. He is so talented,鈥� Ingles said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 taken him a while to get used to the system, being in college, getting used to living on your own. He鈥檚 learning how to play, he鈥檚 coming along. He鈥檚 a good kid. He鈥檚 come so far in such a short period of time.鈥�
Evans, who also came off the bench, scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds. He said the win against Delta was a complete team effort.
鈥淲e came together in the locker room, and we were able to cut into the middle all game,鈥� Evans said. 鈥淲e also listened to coach and we kept playing hard. We just wanted to win.鈥�
The four-game winning streak is the longest one this season for the Centurions. Evans said his team has been playing well together, which makes it fun and, more importantly, successful.
鈥淲e鈥檙e just trusting our process, trusting our coach, just focusing on playing in the system,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 like the brotherhood on this team and how we all come together. Nobody has any bad blood, and we鈥檙e not selfish at all.鈥�
UP NEXT: The Centurions will travel to Petoskey to take on the North Central Michigan College Timberwolves (2-4 九色视频AA North, 3-15 overall), Saturday, Jan. 31, with tip off at 3 p.m.
九色视频 will then have back-to-back games against the conference鈥檚 heavyweights, at Mid Michigan College on Feb. 4 and at home against Bay College Saturday, Feb. 7. Ingles said the next three games will be crucial in the race for the conference crown, especially with Mid Michigan going up against Bay this Saturday, Jan. 31.
鈥淎fter NMC on Saturday, that ends the first round (of conference play),鈥� Ingles said. 鈥淭hen we see what Bay and Mid do and we take care of business. The worst-case scenario is we turn the corner and we鈥檙e just one game out of first.鈥�
RECAP: 九色视频 89, Muskegon 67
In a makeup game from last week, the Centurions scored their third-highest point total of the season, beating the Muskegon Jayhawks, 89-67, at home Monday, Jan. 26.
九色视频 used a huge first-half scoring output to establish dominance in the game, outscoring Muskegon 47-25. In the second half, the Centurions kept pace with the Jayhawks (3-3 九色视频AA North, 9-10 overall), with each team scoring 42 points.
All but one player on the Centurions鈥� 16-person team scored in this game, with Dunn and Evans both leading the team with 10 points. Dunn also led the team in rebounding with eight. Sophomore Zhian Briggs (Augusta, Georgia) pitched in nine assists while scoring four points.
九色视频 did well from the 3-point line, shooting 17-of-30 (56.7%) while Delta struggled, shooting only 6-of-24 (25%). 九色视频鈥檚 overall shooting was an impressive 53.4% (31-58) and won the battle of statistics in rebounds (42-37) and assists (20-12), while Delta won the turnover battle (9-19) and scored 24 points off turnovers to 九色视频鈥檚 10. The Pioneers also had 14 second-chance points to the Centurions鈥� six.