ESCANABA, MI - The Bay Norse Men's Basketball team (18-9) would take control early and cruise to a 96-64 victory over Gogebic Community College (6-20) on Wednesday evening.
The Norse would never trail in the matchup and hot shooting from deep would help them to a 13-5 lead in the early going. Gogebic would hit a scoring drought and go almost nine minutes and only score one basket from the field. It would allow the home team to go on a 21-4 and take a commanding lead. Bay would shoot 54.1% from the field and hit on nine of 17 attempts from three-point in the first half to take a 55-32 lead into the locker room at half.
The Norse would continue to dominate in the second half. They would build a 38 point lead with just under seven minutes to play, allowing them to comfortably cruise to the 32-piont victory.
The Norse were incredibly efficient throughout the matchup. They would end the game with a 53.1% field goal percentage. The home team enjoyed a strong night shooting from behind the arc, hitting 12 of 24 shots from deep. Bay would also pull down 15 offensive rebounds, and a total of 42 rebounds, while only turning the ball over seven times in the contest. The only blemish on the box score for the Norse was hitting just 16 of 31 free throws in the contest.
The Samsons would shoot 34.3% from the floor for the game, including ten of 31 from behind the three-point arc. They would collect 38 rebounds in the contest, but turn the ball over twenty times.
Bay would get 17 points from Ryan Robinette (FR, Escanaba, MI) on five of ten shooting from deep. He would also add five rebounds and three steals. Cade Contreras (FR, Munising, MI) would hit on all three of his three-point attempts and finish with 12 points. Logan Hardwick (FR, Rapid River, MI) scored ten and finished just shy of a double-double with eight rebounds. Christian Alexander (FR, Dorset, UK) added ten points.
The Norse honored their sophomores for their contributions to the programs over their careers. Alfonzo Fields (Milwaukee, WI) scored 14 points, and had five rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Marcus McKenney (Menominee, MI) added 12 points, two rebounds, three assists, and three steals, while Tyler Willette (Escanaba, MI) would score nine points and grab four rebounds. Kobi Barnes (Milwaukee, WI) also played in his last regular season home game as a Norse and scored two points and three rebounds. Unable to participate in the night's festivities was Darien Nichols (Manistique, MI).
The Samsons were led by Mitchell Borseth (FR, Ontonagon, MI) who scored 21 points. Shamon Shinal (SO, Holland, MI) would add 14 points and six rebounds, while Jacob Suzik (FR, Wakefield, MI) ended his night with ten points and six rebounds.
"We came out and shot the ball really well to start the game," said Head Coach Matt Johnson. "Shooting the ball can cover for other mistakes. It was a great team effort, with the minutes and scoring being equally distributed amongst all of our guys. Our depth has continued to be one of our strengths and we were able to showcase that again tonight."
The Norse are on the road on Saturday afternoon. They will play Harry S. Truman College in Chicago at 4 pm. They will then wrap up their regular season schedule on Monday at Finlandia. Game time for that contest will be at 7:30. Bay will host an NJCAA Region XIII tournament game, but the date, time, and opponent will be determined at the end of the week.