By Justin Stulpe
The Grand Rapids Community College men’s basketball team was back in action with a matchup against Muskegon Community College, and a season-high in points propelled the Raiders to a convincing victory over MCC 98-81.
The Raiders dominated the first half on both sides of the ball, building a lead that would never be relinquished for the rest of the contest. The combination of the Raiders shooting over 59% from the field in the first half, along with scoring 16 points off of 10 MCC turnovers played a major role in the Raiders building as much as a 30-point lead in the first 20 minutes of action.
Coming out of halftime, MCC began to cut into the GRCC lead with multiple scoring runs that eventually led to the lead being cut to 17 in the early second half, but the Raiders then answered back by putting the game out of reach with clutch 3-pointers daggers, ultimately sealing the game for the Raiders.
GRCC’s aggressive defensive game plan, focused on applying pressure and forcing mistakes from MCC, was key to their success. Head coach Joe Fox emphasized this approach, when he said, “We’re built to score off of stops,” and added, “When we can create turnover opportunities, I think we are really good.”
The scoring explosion for GRCC was fueled by five players having double-digit points. This effort was led by freshman guard Tyran Thomas chipping in a game-high 20 points and eight rebounds, along with freshman Marshaun Flakes contributing 15 points, six rebounds and four assists. Bashir Neely added 12 points, six rebounds, and six assists, and both Jack Agema and J.D. DeGroot scoring 11 points, with Agema also having a team-high four steals.
Such scoring balance and even point distribution led to a well-balanced attack that proved to be tough to stop all game long, leading to GRCC shooting 53.3% from the field and an even 40% from the three-point line.
Fox was pleased with his team’s scoring performance and ability to have five players score 10 or more points. “When we play that way, we’re really tough,” he said.
MCC was led in scoring by forward Joe Russau, who led the Jayhawks with 23 points, along with Guard Will Chye adding 18 points. Center Ny’Zhem Marshall added six points, along with a team and game-high 10 rebounds.
GRCC completes the three-game home stretch with a win to improve to 4-2 on the season, and 2-1 in the homestand. The team now has over a week until their next two games that are part of the Montcalm County Shoot Out tournament, and the Raiders aim to carry the momentum and build upon the promising performance from the victory over MCC into the tournament.
GRCC has games on consecutive days against Kuyper College JV Black on Nov. 30, and Camp Battlegrounds Prep on Dec. 1, both games being played on the road at Montcalm Community College.
