By Jack Walker
The Grand Rapids Community College men’s basketball team was back in action on Dec. 14 night, and in their way was Washtenaw Community College, a game that was originally supposed to be played on Nov. 29. GRCC was unstoppable, scoring a season-high 111 points, and allowing a season-low 56 points. It was a well-balanced and all-around dominant performance for the Raiders.
Washtenaw scored the first two points of the game, but that first 48 seconds was the only time they would lead. Before the Raiders matchup versus Washtenaw, GRCC’s largest first half lead this season sat at 12. But, as the first half ended Thursday night, the Raiders found themselves up 46-24, a 22-point lead. GRCC had attempted 18 more shots than Washtenaw in the first half, thanks to them forcing 16 first half turnovers and grabbing 14 offensive rebounds.
Despite a win in their last matchup, Head Coach Joe Fox opened the game with a brand new starting lineup. Fox shared his thoughts on the change.
“We always try and keep competition open and that freshman group has had a really tremendous couple weeks of practice,” Fox added. “We wanted to get them out there and rolling.”
It was a great first half for the Raiders, but the second half was even better. GRCC was able to notch 65 second half points, 65. The team shot 22-38 from the field, 11-18 from beyond the arc, and 10-11 from the free throw line. It was a perfect offensive half for GRCC, everything was clicking for the squad. Washtenaw was able to score 32 in the second half but it did not matter, they could not hang with GRCC.
Majority of the team had all around great games, but some notable performances came from freshman guard Jack Agema, freshman forward Javon Golson, and sophomore guard Joe Francis.
Agema was on fire from three, going 4-5 from three, helping him achieve 17 points on the night, 14 of which came in the second half, as well as tacking on four assists.
Golson added 10 points of his own, but had the most eye-popping stat of the night, 17 rebounds, giving Golson a double-double. Golson was able to achieve these numbers in just under 17 minutes of play, giving him over one rebound per minute, a Dennis Rodman-esque performance from the forward out of Detroit. Golson spoke on his performance,
“Seventeen rebounds? Well, I really just try to get in where I fit in,” Golson continued. “We’ve been working hard at practice, I just came out here and just tried to perform what we do in practice.”
Sophomore guard Joe Francis has been one of the leaders for the team this season, starting in most games. However, due to Coach Fox’s change-up, Francis came off the bench. Going into halftime, Francis only had five points. When the game ended, Francis led all scorers with 23. Francis shot 9-15 from the field, 5-9 from three, and ended with six steals. He did it all in only 14 minutes of action. What did Francis do to prepare for his impressive performance?
“I’ve just been in the gym the last couple of days, since our last game, just getting shots up.”
Coach Fox explained how the team was able to be so dominant in the game.
“I think our size and athleticism really helped us defensively,” Fox said. “Once we started guarding, I thought we did a really nice job. Man, I thought they had some really good athletes that hit the offensive glass hard, but once we keyed in on them I thought we did a little better.”
After the post-game huddle broke, players were heard shouting “7 a.m.” in reference to their early morning practice on Friday. It’s safe to say that the team is excited for their quick turnaround as the Raiders take on Lansing Community College on Saturday, Dec. 16 at 3 p.m.
Coach Fox talked about the importance of the win heading into Saturday’s contest,
“We try to not look in groupings and try to look at everything individually, we don’t look ahead or anything like that,” Fox said. “We’ll get ready for Lansing…and we’ll be good to go.”
The Raiders will go into the matchup on a two-game winning streak and their largest win of the season, a good momentum boost for the team.
