By Justin Stulpe
GRCC men’s basketball ended their three-game road trip with two consecutive losses against Glen Oaks Community College and Marian University-Ancilla, ending their 13-game win streak and posting their first losing effort since November. The Raiders dropped two crucial conference matchups against formidable opponents, doing so in similar fashion by starting the games slow and going into halftime with a deficit that was too much to overcome for the rest of the contest.
GRCC vs Glen Oaks
The Raiders visited the Vikings on Jan. 25 and tied their largest loss of the season by losing to Glen Oaks Community College 102-77.
GRCC opened the contest by shooting 17-37 from the field in the opening frame against the Vikings, but a strong 5-11 team 3-point shooting percentage kept them in reach of the lead, only trailing by eight heading into halftime. While the Raiders did score 41 points in the first 20 minutes of action, they also allowed 49 to Glen Oaks behind 22 made field goal attempts in the first half by the Vikings, and this torrid shooting pace that Glen Oaks came out of the game with was only amplified in the second half.
Glen Oaks dispatched any second-half comeback attempt of the Raiders by dominating both sides of the ball, first of which by shooting 18-33 from the field in the second half, along with an astounding 14-15 performance from the free throw line that put the game out of reach for the Raiders.
Even with this impressive offensive output in the second half, the defensive effort that Glen Oaks demonstrated was even more dominant than their offensive showing, with the Vikings holding GRCC to a mere 36 points in the final 20 minutes of action, a performance that is uncharacteristic for a Raider squad that usually has no problem putting points up on the board.
Two major aspects of the game that turned out to be deciding factors in the blowout loss for the Raiders were points off turnovers and points in the paint. GRCC was dominated in both aspects, with the Vikings scoring 30 points off GRCC turnovers, while the Raiders only managed 11. Similarly, GRCC scored a modest 44 points in the paint, but could not contain the inside offense of Glen Oaks, who ultimately ended the contest with a monstrous 62 points in the paint. These two facets of the game proved to be too much for GRCC to overcome and were major factors as to why the Raiders experienced something that is rare for the squad this season, a blowout loss.
The Raiders were led in scoring by freshman guard Marshaun Flakes who posted 19 points. Flakes, the NJCAA DII National Player of the Week the week prior, also posted three rebounds, two blocks and three steals in 28 minutes of action. Freshman guard Zeekeal Jackson posted an impressive 18 points on 60% shooting coming off of the bench for the Raiders, along with six rebounds, four assists and three blocks, all of which led the team. Other notable contributions came from freshman wing Gaden Muxlow and sophomore guard J.D. DeGroot, who both added eight points for the Raiders, with Muxlow pulling down four boards.
Glen Oaks had a quartet of players who all posted 15 or more points for the Vikings, with the leader in scoring being freshman forward Taurus Baugh posting a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double to go along with three steals. Freshman forward Amauri Moore and sophomore forward Aaron Humphery Jr. both tallied 16 points and seven rebounds each, while freshman forward Akin Smith added 15 points and three rebounds of his own in the win.
GRCC looked to their next contest against Marian University-Ancilla in hopes of getting back on track to their winning ways and putting the subpar team performance in the past.
GRCC vs Marian University-Ancilla
GRCC took aim at the Chargers of Marian University-Ancilla on Jan. 27 as a make-up contest from Jan. 22 and were unsuccessful in getting back into the win column by falling 89-84 in a close contest that came down to the wire.
GRCC shot a middling 45.9% on field goal attempts in the first half, and trailed by as many as 11 points in the frame due to allowing Marian to shoot 56.7% from the field, which allowed the Chargers to lead 52-41 heading into halftime. A trend that was evident throughout the contest that ultimately played a large role in GRCC dropping this pivotal conference matchup was the free-throw shooting of Marian, both attempting more than any opponent that the Raiders have faced all year, but also effectively sinking the shots from the charity stripe that determined the outcome of the game heavily.
In the second half, GRCC began to turn the game around and forced the contest down to the final minute of the game with their considerably better second-half play. GRCC shot the ball substantially better than Marian in the second half, as the Raiders went 17-28 from the field in the second half, a blistering 58.6% in the frame that aided the comeback attempt. Along with the second-half resurgence of the Raider offense, the defense also rounded back into form, with GRCC holding Marian to a measly 9-28 shooting performance in the final period, a 32.1% clip that certainly enabled the Raiders to cut the lead to single digits in the waning moments of the back-and-forth duel.
However, just like the first half, the Chargers relied on their free-throw shooting to keep them afloat and hold off the last-ditch efforts from the Raiders to come out victorious. Marian knocked down an impressive 15-21 from the line, accounting for just under half of their second-half total points, with those free-throws allowing the Chargers to only be outscored in the half by a modest six points while only making nine field goals the entire half.
The Raiders were paced in scoring by the tandem of Flakes and freshman guard Tyran Thomas, who both posted 20 points in the close loss. Flakes also grabbed five rebounds and delivered five assists, while Thomas snagged seven boards and dished out three dimes of his own. Freshman forward Ethan Bennett and Jackson both chipped in 10 points, with Bennett coming down with five rebounds, and Jackson yet again paced the squad with three steals.
The Chargers had a balanced scoring attack, with freshman guard Jordan Woods scoring a game-high 22, and also posting a team-high five assists. Sophomore forward Jayden Sanders scored 20 points to go along with eight rebounds, while freshman guard Matt King contributed 16 points and three rebounds to round out the trio of Chargers that accounted for 65% of the scoring for Marian.
The Raiders will now take on Kalamazoo Valley Community College on Jan. 29 at 7:30 p.m. at Ford Fieldhouse in search to end this two-game skid. KCC is yet another tough opponent in the conference for GRCC, as the Cougars are 18-1 on the season, and will have their hands full trying to slow down opposing guard Joe Liedel who is averaging a staggering 26.6 points per game on the season and scored a Kalamazoo Valley CC school record with 51 points last season. Kalamazoo CC also averages 103 points per game as a team, while GRCC scores 93 a game, so this contest is sure to deliver some points and some high stakes as the Raiders will aim to get back in the win column, while the Cougars go after their seventh straight win.
