The Grand Rapids Community College men’s and women’s basketball teams hit the road Wednesday night to visit the Glen Oaks Community College Vikings in Centreville, Michigan.
The women’s team was coming off a Friday night game where they went on a 13-1 run to finish the game and get a comeback win over Lansing Community College for their first conference win.
The Raiders seemed to bottle that momentum and used it to pick up a huge, 71-44 road victory Wednesday night. Women’s head coach Dave Glazier pointed to the team’s massive rebounding differential as a huge key in the team’s second straight win.
“We had a number of things go well tonight,” Glazier said. “We controlled the boards convincingly, 66-30, which meant we were limiting them to one-shot possessions.”
In Friday night’s game, sophomore forward Mya Jordan went down with an ankle injury in the first half and didn’t return to the game. Glazier said she was given the go-ahead to play Wednesday, but they wanted to be cautious with her.
“Kenzi Omness started in place of Mya Jordan tonight even though (Jordan) was cleared to play,” Glazier said. “Kenzie got us a near double-double with nine points and 13 boards. Mya did play limited minutes and had a double-double, 19 points, 10 boards and five blocks.”
With the team racking up 66 rebounds, Omness and Jordan weren’t the only two with double-figure rebounds.
“Emily Pendred had a double-double, 10 points and 10 boards,” Glazier said. “Carlee Odom also had her best game as a Raider in a ‘homecoming’ game. She is from Centreville, Michigan which is where Glen Oaks is located. Her stat line doesn’t show her consistent defensive play as well as leadership getting us organized offensively.”
The Raiders are now 11-5 overall and improve to 2-3 in the conference. They’ll look to get to .500 when they go for their third straight conference win on Friday, Jan. 18. The Raiders will host the Lake Michigan College Red Hawks for their homecoming game at 5:30 p.m. in the Gerald R. Ford Fieldhouse.
The men’s team came into Wednesday night’s game with the Red Hawks owners of an undefeated, 4-0 conference record and riding a six-game winning streak. The Raiders couldn’t keep their streak alive however, losing a tough game 94-82.
Men’s head coach Luke Bronkema was very blunt in his assessment of his team’s performance after the game saying it was “not good enough for a win on the road.” Bronkema said the team has to improve before their next game.
“The biggest thing we can improve on is the energy and focus we bring Friday night,” Bronkema said. “It has to be better than tonight.”
The Raiders were lead by Camren Spicer and Sammie Ryans who both scored 17 points in the loss. David Hearns also had a solid performance for GRCC with 15 points and seven assists.
The Raiders suffer their first conference loss moving them to 4-1 and 11-5 overall. They will try to start a new winning record when they host Lake Michigan for the finale of Homecoming Week on Friday, Jan 18 at 7:30 p.m. in the Ford Fieldhouse.
