CENTERVILLE, MI - The Bay College Men's Basketball Team (4-9) won its third straight game on Saturday, leading from wire to wire in a 70-60 victory over Glen Oaks Community College (0-7) in southern Michigan. The win was Bay's second straight road win after not winning any away games until this weekend.
"They gave us more man-to-man looks than we were expecting and weren't really prepared for," Norse Coach Matt Johnson said. "All we've been talking about since last night was zone stuff. But all in all, two wins on the road against two pretty good teams, we'll take it. It makes the drive back to Upper Michigan a lot more enjoyable."
Ashton Janke (FR, Dollar Bay, MI) led the Norse with 18 points. He scored 14 of those points in the first half as the Norse got early separation on the scoreboard and was never headed.
"It feels good to come in and get two wins on the road," Janke said. "Hopefully we can keep this momentum up. I don't think there was really anything special that he [Johnson] set up for me, I just think, they were in a 2-3, and I knew that we'd have to come out and hit some shots to try to break that down. It just kind of came today. Things were clicking for me. I guess it was just my night tonight."
Janke had a basket in the lane and two three-pointers as the Norse jumped to a 15-3 lead. The Vikings scored seven straight points to get back in it, but Tristan Masuga (SO, Cedarville, MI) scored on a put back and then he scored on a nice bounce pass from Joe Gibbs (SO, Gladstone, MI) on the baseline to make it 19-10.
Cal Raymond (FR, Gibraltar, MI) came off the bench to hit four three-point baskets to help the Norse take a 39-26 lead, but Glen Oaks closed the half with six straight points, four of them from Janye Griffin (FR, South Bend, IN), who had 14 of his game-high 20 points in the first half.
Bay opened the second half by outscoring Glen Oaks, 18-7, to take a 57-39 lead with 12:47 left in the contest. The Vikings, playing with only six players, kept battling, closing to within nine in the final minute. But one of their players fouled out, and the Norse substituted freely ahead of Monday's big regional game against Dakota County Technical College,
Janke ended up with 18 points, and Raymond hit another triple in the second half to finish with 15 points. Matt Wagner (SO, Marinette, WI), one day after scoring 35 points in a win over Oakland Community College, added three threes Saturday and scored 13 points.
Glen Oaks, besides Griffin's 20 points, got 19 points from LeAngelo Sarvala (SO, Avon, IN) and 12 from Javyon Johnson (FR, Muskegon, MI).
The Norse host Dakota County Technical College Monday night in the second of four regional games that will determine who will host the five-team NJCAA Region IX tournament. The Norse beat Gogebic Community College in an earlier seeding match-up.
"It's a huge game," Johnson said. "We're beat up, we're sore, and we've got some guys out. Some guys are battling through some injuries. I'm sure they're dealing with the same. We just want to get in the gym Monday night, lace 'em up, and give it one heck of a battle."
The game on Monday night tips at 7 pm.
Story and photo courtesy of Jack Hall, RRN Sports.