News

The Montcalm Community College Centurions men’s basketball team had its hands full with the No. 23-ranked Mid Michigan College Lakers in a conference matchup Jan. 15, losing 100-58.  

Going into their second conference game of the season, the Centurions (1-1 MCCAA Northern, 8-8 overall) were riding high after defeating No. 16-ranked Bay College last week, but the Lakers proved too much for MCC, using an aggressive style of offense that overwhelmed MCC’s defense. 

“They did exactly what we had seen on film,” MCC Assistant Coach Asher Vissman said. “They drive really aggressively to the basket, they don’t make a lot of threes and they play at a very fast pace. Our defense was not at the level it needed to be to contain them.” 

The Centurions went into halftime trailing the Lakers (2-0 MCCAA Northern, 13-3 overall) by only 14 points, 47-33, however, MCC was unable to stay with Mid Michigan in the second half, being outscored 53-25. 

“We have to guard the ball better going forward,” Vissman said. “At our practice (after the game), we drilled our defensive principles and our guys responded really well.” 

The Lakers, who are now on a 10-game winning streak, had three players score in double digits, with James Wright leading all scorers with 22 points, followed by De’Antre Griffin’s 18 points and Amonti Greene’s 14 points. 

Freshman center Josiah DeMeester (Grandville, Mich.) led the Centurions in points, coming off the bench to score a team-high 13. Freshman guard Dorian Allen (Winter Haven, Fla.) added 10 points, followed by freshman guard Taylen Carver’s (Louisville, Ky.) nine points and freshman forward Mason Dunn (Big Rapids, Mich.) finished with seven points.  

Freshman forward Dawson Dunn (Big Rapids, Mich.) led the team with five rebounds while freshman guard Geronimo “Gero” Mozzi (Villa Ramallo, Argentina) led the team in assists with five. 

As a team, the Centurions shot only 40% (22-of-55) from the field while the Lakers shot 53.6% (37-of-69). The Lakers also had a sizable advantage in rebounds, outrebounding MCC 47-20 and winning the turnover battle, forcing 21 on MCC and only committing 13 themselves. 

Despite the loss, Vissman said head coach Zach Ingles has the team still focusing on trying to win a conference title, no matter how much of an underdog his Centurions team may be. 

“After the game, we told them that we are still in the race for the league,” Vissman said. “We’re only two games in, we’ve played two ranked teams and we’ve came out 1-1. We aren’t happy with the performance (vs. Mid Michigan), but we can build from this start in conference play.” 

UP NEXT: MCC will hit the road for three consecutive away games, against Muskegon Community College Jan. 22, at Kirtland Community College Jan. 25, and at Delta College Jan. 29, which will be an NJCAA Coaches vs. Cancer game.