By Zach Watkins – Sports Editor
The Grand Rapids Community College men’s basketball team lost to No. 1-ranked Schoolcraft Community College 87-66 on Saturday.
Jamier Mix led GRCC with 15 points on 6 of 11 shooting and going 3 for 7 from the free-throw line.
“First game of the year, and I was pleased with the effort,” GRCC coach Michael Spicer said. “The kids really played hard. That’s a really good team, Schoolcraft has a lot of talent.
“We’ve got a couple kids who couldn’t play tonight, because of some paperwork and transfer stuff. Hopefully they’ll be back next week to help us. We’re going to use tonight as a springboard to our season and try and build off of it.”
Schoolcraft’s Davon Taylor scored a game-high 16 points on 7 of 8 shooting, also tallying a game-high 11 rebounds. Tyler Johnson added 14 points for the Ocelots.
“We were very undersized tonight and a little shorthanded,” Spicer said. “That wasn’t the biggest factor. I just think they’re a better team right now.
“There also was a big difference in assists. We had three and they had 13. They were moving the ball a little bit better than we were, and I thought we missed some guys in transition. We’re going to work on those things.”
GRCC finished 21 of 38 from the free-throw line.
“Free throws were ugly,” Spicer said. “Sometimes that can be psychological. We just need to concentrate more and work on them in practice.”
