Coming off of Christmas break, the Grand Rapids Community College men’s basketball team hosted Southwestern Michigan College and huge free throws from freshman guard Jack Agema helped seal the victory 77-72.
The Roadrunners entered the game with a record of 8-5 while the Raiders had a solid 7-6 record.
Raiders head coach Joe Fox emphasized the team was ready to go despite the break.
“We got the guys about a week off with no basketball, but other than that we went hard over the break,” Fox said. “Had some great conditioning and impressive practices.”
GRCC mixed up the starting rotation as freshman forward Dominic McRoberts returned to the lineup for the second time this season.
The Raiders started the game on a 13-2 run in the first six minutes due to a mixture of SWMC turnovers and an effective GRCC defensive scheme. Defensively, the Raiders were able to get stops that turned into easy points. GRCC scored 12 points off turnovers in the first half, leading to an early run. GRCC led by a sizable difference but the Roadrunners continued to chip away.
Near the five-minute mark, SWMC started to get consistent defensive stops while also nailing multiple 3-pointers. They cut the deficit to three with nearly four minutes left and went into halftime with a 34-31 lead.
Sophomore guard Tristan McRoberts had an impressive performance in the first half with 11 points, two rebounds, and one assist. Dominic McRoberts added five points while shooting perfectly from beyond the arc and at the free-throw line.
The reason the Raiders struggled to finish the half was turnovers and missed 3-pointers. GRCC shot an abysmal 13.3% (2-15) from the 3-point line and turned it over six times.
Fox attributed the SWMC run due to how well the Roadrunners were playing defensively.
“The whole game was a game of runs, and they had a great run because they played like a great defensive team to end the half,” Fox said.
In the second half, each team struggled to score for the first few minutes as both teams played terrific defense. SWMC got their lead to as much as seven but the Raiders stayed in the game with their offense.
Shortly after, the Raiders cut the lead to two points. Sophomore guard Joe Francis started to heat up combined with GRCC forcing turnovers, which allowed them to make a run. The Roadrunners maintained the lead for a portion of the second half and with about 10 minutes left, a layup from freshman forward J.D. DeGroot tied the game.
The last 10 minutes of the game was a complete rollercoaster ride for each squad. SWMC took a small lead with 7:32 left and slowly started to control the momentum of the game. GRCC stole the momentum from the Roadrunners with less than five minutes as they took the lead.
Agema played meaningful minutes at the end of the game as he nailed five free throws in the final minute. The Raiders outlasted the Roadrunners 77-72
Tristan McRoberts ended with a team-high 20 points shooting 8-13 from the field. He also notched a double-double adding 10 rebounds along with two steals.
Francis scored 11 points, two rebounds, and three assists. Freshman forward Javon Golson had 10 points and seven rebounds while sophomore guard Darrell Belcher added seven points, eight rebounds, four assists, and three steals.
Lastly, Agema finished with 15 points and a perfect 6-6 from the free-throw line.
With the victory, GRCC improves to 8-6 on the season and creeps closer to conference play. The Raiders face rival Lansing Community College on Wednesday, Jan.10 in Lansing at 7:30 p.m.
Fox can’t wait to face their biggest out-of-conference rival on Wednesday.
“Lansing is a great team and we are looking forward to the challenge for our last non-conference game,” Fox said.
