By Jack Walker
The Grand Rapids Community College men’s basketball team was in action on Saturday afternoon, taking on Alpena Community College, at the Ford Fieldhouse. GRCC entered the game on a three-game losing streak, but were able to snap their previous bad habits, winning a close one, 74-70.
A defensive battle took place in the first half between the two teams, with each side struggling to get any offense flowing. For GRCC, this was not new, as the team struggled offensively against Alpena earlier in the season, scoring only 29 first-half points, and eventually losing, 94-70
This time, the team scored even fewer first-half points, only putting up 26. The difference between this game and the previous matchup was GRCC only allowed 28 first-half points, in comparison to the 48 they gave last time.
GRCC was only down two going into the half but was putting on a defensive clinic, holding ACC to 11-38 (28.9%) from the field.
“I thought defensively our guys really locked in there today and played to the game plan” said head coach Joe Fox.
The difference in the score took place at the free throw line, with GRCC shooting 2-6 from the line, while ACC shot 5-6.
With nine minutes to go in the game, ACC led GRCC 51-46. The offenses were better, but the defensive battle was still present in the game, until it wasn’t, because soon after GRCC was able to click on the offensive end. GRCC leveled the game at 53, but took it to another level, going on an 11-0 run, to take a 64-53 lead.
With under four minutes left to go in the contest, ACC finally caught life on the offensive end, going on an 8-1 run to cut the Raiders lead to 65-61. GRCC hasn’t found themselves in crunch time situations often this season, but when they are, the team has excelled.
The team’s successful track record in the clutch continued, as GRCC took down ACC, 74-70.
Fox spoke on how the team was able to beat Alpena this time around,
“We shot the ball much better today than we did on the road when we played them the first time,” said Fox. “We also did a nice job executing the game plan, especially in the second half.”
The majority of the final two minutes for the Raiders was spent at the free-throw line, as expected in a close game. GRCC went a blistering 9-10 from the free-throw line inside the final two minutes, a clutch team performance.
As far as individual performances go, sophomore guards Joe Francis, Darrell Belcher, Tristan McRoberts and freshman guard Jack Agema each played at least 26 minutes. Francis led the team in scoring with 20 points, Belcher grabbed 10 rebounds and finished with six assists, McRoberts added a double-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds, and three blocks, and Agema scored 15 points on an efficient 3-4 from beyond the arc.
“Those four played very well together today,” said Fox. “They have the ability to play off each other and all have unique skill sets that balance well.”
After shooting just 32% from the field in the first half, GRCC was able to go 16-32 from the field in the second half, as well as 6-13 (46.2%) from three. Despite allowing 42 second-half points, GRCC still held Alpena to only 13-39 (33.3%) in the second half and 24-77 (31.2%) from the field overall, an all-around great defensive performance from the Raiders. One area the Raiders struggled with was rebounding, allowing ACC to grab 20 offensive rebounds.
With the win, GRCC moved to 12-14 on the season and 4-7 in conference play. The team has only three games remaining on the schedule, two on the road and one at home. GRCC’s next game will be against Delta College, on Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 7:30 p.m. The two teams went head-to-head on Jan. 31, with the Raiders squeaking out a close 82-79 win.
Fox touched on the remaining schedule,
“No comfortable wins here on out, Delta is playing great.” “We will control what we can control and try to play a good game with high intensity.”
