By Justin Stulpe
The Grand Rapids Community College men’s basketball team dueled with Glen Oaks Community College on Feb. 19 in a conference matchup that came down to the final possession of the game, ultimately culminating in a game-winning layup by Glen Oaks that propelled them to the win by a single point, 85-84. The made layup with less than a second remaining in the game spoiled the second-half comeback attempt from the Raiders, who had scratched and clawed themselves back into the game to even take the lead in the final minute of the game.
Despite allowing a wide-open layup to ultimately lose the game on the final play, GRCC played their best ball in quite some time down the stretch to even put themselves in a position to win the game in the first place. In the end, it was not enough to win however, as GRCC is now slumping hard in the back-half of their regular season schedule, posting a 2-7 record in their last nine games, all of which being against conference opponents.
The first half of the game began with both teams trading blows from the first whistle, with GRCC controlling the pace of the game and holding an early eight-point lead over the Vikings. After leading 22-14, the Raiders proceeded to allow Glen Oaks to storm back into the game and take the lead fueled by a 28-10 run in the middle of the first half. GRCC had no answers for the Vikings on all three-levels, as Glen Oaks began to impose their will in the paint and from beyond the arc as well. Despite the skid in the first half, the Raiders bunkered down and began to reaffirm their presence on both ends by closing the lead to only eight points at the end of the first half, heading into the break down 48-39.
Both teams were deadlocked with each other throughout most of the second-half, with Glen Oaks holding at or near a double-digit until the six minute mark. The Raiders cut the lead to six with 6:18 left in the game and continued to chip away to inch closer to the Vikings. GRCC put the clamps on Glen Oaks and eventually played their way into a lead with under two minutes to play, with both teams then trading buckets until freshman guard Marshaun Flakes stole the ball from Glen Oaks and assisted freshman guard Tyran Thomas on the fast-break to put the Raiders up by one with 13 seconds to go with an emphatic dunk.
Glen Oaks then came down the floor and missed a 3-pointer, with GRCC even grabbing the most important defensive rebound of the game, but Glen Oaks forced a jump ball and the possession arrow gave the ball back to the Vikings with 1.3 seconds left in the game. Getting the ball on the baseline under the basket with less than two seconds to work with, freshman guard Will Jamison got a wide-open look under the rim from a well-designed play and scored the dagger that made the Raider comeback all for not.
Head coach Joe Fox said that effort on the defensive end is what really helped GRCC mount the second half comeback when he said, “I thought our defensive discipline helped us close the gap down the stretch. Some of our freshmen really impressed in the second half, some big plays in the clutch.”
Flakes once again paced the Raiders in scoring by putting up 21 points along with seven rebounds and five assists in a well-rounded effort, including forcing the last-minute turnover in the clutch to put the Raiders up for the first time in the game since the score was 22-21 in the first half. Right alongside Flakes was Thomas who also stuffed the stat sheet, as he posted 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, shooting 8-14 from the field to provide the Raiders with efficient and impactful minutes down the stretch. The third 20-point scorer was freshman guard Zeekeal Jackson, who tallied 20 points to go along with six rebounds and an impressive two blocks from the guard position. Freshman wing Gaden Muxlow added an efficient eight points, knocking down important shots to stop Glen Oaks from scoring runs and starting rallies to get GRCC back within striking distance.
Glen Oaks distributed their point spread very evenly, with four players scoring 10 or more, with the team-high belonging to sophomore guard Darrius Roach with 20 points, along with four rebounds and three assists. Freshman point guard Mike Phillips scored 12 points and came down with six rebounds, while two players coming off of the bench for the Vikings heavily influenced the game result by outsourcing the entire GRCC bench. The aforementioned Jamison, who hit the game-winning layup for two of his 12 points, also came down with five rebounds, while freshman Taurus Baugh scored a dozen points while corralling eight rebounds.
GRCC has now dropped their seventh conference game, with this loss coming in heart-breaking fashion after coming all the way back in the second half just to lose on a game-winning layup. Despite the emotion-draining loss to Glen Oaks, Fox noted how that is just how it works in a conference with so many good teams.
“That’s the fun thing about our league, battle after battle. No time to feel sorry for ourselves, big time game to prep for on Saturday. We had a good practice and we’re going to be ready to go,” Fox said.
The big game on Saturday is where the Raiders will now look to get back on track on Feb. 22 at 3 p.m. on the road against Kalamazoo Valley Community College. GRCC will have a tall task in front of them to try and pick up a road win, as they square off with the Cougars who are 25-1 on the season, along with being 12-0 in the MCCAA Western division. The first go-around between these two teams resulted in KVCC handing GRCC a 12-point loss at Ford Fieldhouse, now the stakes for GRCC are much higher than the first bout on Jan. 29, as they are now fighting to stay alive in the conference tournament standings.
The first matchup between the Raiders and the Cougars was defined by GRCC’s game plan to try and shut down KVCC sophomore guard Joe Liedel, freeing up driving lanes and opening up uncontested 3-pointers to allow the other players on the Cougars to do a lot of the heavy lifting to defeat the Raiders. Lidel, who is averaging over 25 points per game this season, presents a great challenge for the Raiders to try and contain, as his offensive gravity forces teams to make a choice on how to guard the entire team. Either putting more attention on Lidel and allowing the others to get open looks, or man-to-man defense against everybody and hopes that Liedel is contained by the Raider’s best on-ball defender.
GRCC tried to limit Liedel in the first game and paid the price with a loss on home court, it remains to see how the Raiders will approach the Cougars in their clash on Feb. 22 in Texas Township.
