RIVER GROVE, IL - The third time was not the charm Friday for the Bay College Men's Basketball Team (1-4) against national powerhouse Triton College (8-1), but the Norse had a much better effort than in the first two matchups with the Trojans, losing 70-57.
"It was far from perfect, but I'm incredibly proud of the guys, especially in the second half," Norse Head Coach Matt Johnson said. "We did some really good things. Huge strides from three weeks ago to today. This Triton College team is incredibly good. The best I've ever seen at this level, and we more than battled with them. We had our chances. We can hold our heads high walking out here tonight."
The Norse lost to Triton, 88-50 and 98-55, on a previous trip to the Chicagoland area, and they fell behind 15-0 and 15-1 in those games. But on Friday, the Norse actually took a 3-0 lead on a Jaden Janke (FR, Dollar Bay, MI) triple, and after Cal Raymond (FR, Gibraltar, MI) hit a three and a short jumper, and Didier Ngambo (FR, Detroit, MI) scored inside, Bay trailed only 16-13 with less than ten minutes left in the half.
The Trojans outscored Bay 20-5, as the Norse went into a dry spell, making just seven of 31 shot attempts in the first half. The Norse also struggled from the free throw line, missing five of their six first half charity shots. Bay trailed, 36-18, at halftime.
Triton's lead grew to 48-28 in the second half before the Norse, behind Chris Dobsessi's (SO, Detriot, MI) aggressive drives to the basket, keyed an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 48-36. Matt Wagner (SO, Marinette, WI) caught fire in the second half as well, sinking four three-pointers and bringing the Norse to within 12 on two occasions. They could not, however, cut the lead to single digits.
"I challenged both Matt and Chris at halftime," Johnson said. "Both of those guys did exactly what I would expect them to do. They rose to the occasion. They took my challenge, accepted it, came out, and played two really good second halves."
Dobessi, who did not score in the first half, scored 11 points in the second half. Wagner, held to three points in the first half, put up 13 in the second half to finish with 16 points.
Freshman Cal Raymond added ten points, sinking two triples, and Jaden Janke scored nine.
Triton had three players score 11 points each: Kejuan Clements (SO, Chicago, IL), Raymond Grant (SO, Chicago, IL), and D.J. Patrick (FR, Atlanta, GA).
The Norse continue their three-game road trip with a Saturday afternoon matchup with Morton College. That game is scheduled for a 4 pm tipoff.
Story and photo courtesy of Jack Hall, RRN Sports.