CICERO, IL – The Bay College Norse Men's Basketball Team (1-8) fell on the road to the Morton College Panthers (3-6) by a final score of 106-67.
It started off as a duel in the early going. Matt Wagner (SO, Marinette, WI) connected on a three-pointer and Chris Dobessi (SO, Detroit, MI) drove to the basket for two points to make the score 9-8 in favor of Morton College. After the Panthers answered, Jaden Janke (FR, Dollar Bay, MI) made a shot from behind the arc.
Eventually the Norse knotted the score at 17 with 16 minutes left in the half, but the momentum swung hard to the Morton College team after that. The Panthers went on a 25-5 run over the next eleven plus minutes, opening up a gap that they would not give up. The run was capped by back-to-back three's by Latik Murphy (SO, Berwyn, IL) and Nikola Senik (FR, Streamwood, IL), putting the Panthers up 42-22.
Morton College hit nine three-pointers in the first half, extending their lead to 50-29 at the half.
The Panther Offense did not slow down one bit in the second half. Eight more three's in the half would fuel a 56-point effort after intermission. Eleven different players would end up scoring points for the homestanding Morton College team.
Meanwhile the Norse saw a concerning issue show up again, as for the second straight game they had a period of time where they shot poorly from the free throw line. They hit on just eight of 18 attempts from the charity strip in the first half.
Those number would improve in the second half (nine of 14) and the Bay offense was better, but they were not able to match the sharp shooting of their hosts. The Norse, who lost to this same team by just five points a week ago, ended up dropping this one by 39 points.
Dobessi led the Norse with 16 points. Jaden Janke chipped in 12 points, while Didier Ngambo (FR, Detroit, MI) added ten.
Sinik ended up connecting on a game-high six three-pointers to lead all scorers with 28 points. Malik Tidwell scored 18 points, while Murphy's five three-pointers led him to 17 points.
The Norse finish the current road trip at Kankakee Community College on Sunday afternoon. That game is scheduled to tip at 2:30 pm.