By Jack Walker
The Grand Rapids Community College men’s basketball team was in action Wednesday night for game number 27 on the year, and conference game number 12. After a slow start to the game which saw the Raiders go down as many as eight, the offense started to click, allowing them to lead the whole second half, resulting in an 89-76 win over Delta College.
Early into the first half it looked as though Delta College was about to go on a run to take a large leader. But, after trailing by eight points with a little over nine minutes left to play, the Raiders offense was able to go on a run, while the defense was able to get crucial stops in order to retake the lead going into halftime. Just like the previous matchup between the two teams, the score remained close, with just one singular point separating the squads, as the Raiders led 45-44.
“We executed the game plan really well during that stretch, we have a deep squad and they were great in the first half,” said head coach Joe Fox in regards to the team’s first half comeback.
Sophomore guard Joe Francis led the way with 12 first-half points, while his backcourt partner and freshman guard Jack Agema also added 10 of his own points, being the only two Raiders with double-digit points. Starting center Alex Enhis had six points along with five rebounds, and sophomore guard Javonte Jones was able to snatch three first-half steals.
Overall the team shot an efficient 19-40 (47.5%) from the field and 4-8 from three-point territory. GRCC was able to handle the ball with care, only committing three first half turnovers, while forcing eight on the defensive end.
Just like the last three halves the teams have played against each other, this one started out with both teams matching each other shot-for-shot. With around 11 minutes left to go in the second half, the Raiders were able to start inching away, extending their lead to 10, 65-55.
But Delta College did not go down without a fight, cutting the lead to two with four minutes left to play. GRCC now only led 74-72, and would need clutch buckets from the leaders of the team. GRCC has been able to capture multiple wins in crunch time this year, including their last outing against Delta College, and their most recent game against Alpena.
Sophomore guard Spencer Willman got the team’s offense started with a layup, which was followed by Francis going 1-2 from the free throw line. Delta quickly responded with a bucket of their own, but was silenced by a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Tristan McRoberts, which gave GRCC an 80-74 advantage with less than three minutes left to play.
Six points was the closest the game got from that point on, as GRCC would grab two more steals, and finish the game on a 15-4 run, giving them an 89-76 win over Delta.
Fox spoke about the team’s ability to close out close games.
“We always try to be in great shape so we are ready for the second halves and late in the season, it helped us out tonight, Fox said.”
Francis was able to finish with 22 points, while Agema finished with 17. But the star of the second half was McRoberts, who finished the game with 16 points after only scoring two in the first half. But, the kicker is that McRoberts did it on a perfect 6-6 from the field. He also grabbed eight rebounds, dished out four assists, and swatted three shots. It was an all-around dominant performance from the sophomore from Wisconsin.
The previously mentioned Agema has really come into the spotlight over the Raiders last four games, scoring at least 15 points in three of the contests. Fox has taken notice of the freshman’s performances, saying, “Jack has been great, not forcing too much, taking what comes to him, playing great defense, exactly what you need a point guard to do.”
The Raiders have two games left, one at home and one on the road. This Saturday will be the team’s last home game of the season, which also happens to be sophomore night. Fox touched upon the team’s last home game.
“Saturday is sophomore night, which is always one of my favorite nights of the year,” Fox said. “We’re always talking about just controlling what we can control and playing one game at a time. Our focus is on Saturday now.”
Sophomore night will be against North Central Michigan College, who GRCC beat by 20 just three weeks ago. The game will be played at 3 p.m. on Saturday Feb. 24 at the Ford Fieldhouse.
