BISMARCK, ND - The Bay College Norse Men's Basketball Team (16-12) fell behind by double digits in the first half and could not recover, losing to the United Tribes Technical College Thunderbirds by a final of 90-68 in the NJCAA Region 13 semifinals Saturday evening.
"It's tough when you dig that deep of a hole," Norse Head Coach Matt Johnson said of his team's start. "We didn't play very well offensively in the first half and we struggled to put the ball in the hole. We had great looks, I thought, but we missed six or seven pointblank right-at-the-rim baskets."
The Norse had the lead only one time, when Justin Nelson (FR, Iron River, MI) scored the first basket of the game. The Thunderbirds scored the Norse, 12-3, over the next five minutes, taking a 12-5 lead, and expanded that lead to 24-13 before Ashton Janke (SO, Dollar Bay, MI) scored on a put back to cut the deficit back into single digits.
But UCTC went on a 10-0 run, with DK Middleton (FR, Lawrence, KS) and Charles Schrader (FR, Pine Ridge, SD) both scoring twice to build a 34-15 lead. The Norse responded with eight straight points, with Gavin Gothard (FR, St. Paul, MN) and Jacquez Overstreet (FR, Appleton, WI) hitting back-to-back triples, but the Norse still trailed at halftime, 36-23.
The second half was an uphill battle, as the Thunderbirds got a 21-point lead at 54-33 as Middleton and Tahj Two Bulls (FR, Sioux Falls, SD) kept scoring inside.
Bay got strong second halves from Lamar Grayson (FR, Richfield, MN) and Jaylen Flaniken (FR, Troy, MI) to make a run at it. Neither of them had a basket in the first half, but both had 17 points in the second half.
Grayson scored an "and-one" basket to bring Bay to within 76-66 with 3:34 left, and the Norse got a turnover, setting up Overstreet for a wide-open three try. It was short off the rim, and UCTC came down and got an "and-one" basket by Middleton off of a baseline drive.
The Thunderbirds outscored the Norse, 14-2, to end the game.
"We just got too far behind," Johnson said. "We battled. Like we have all year, the kids worked their butts off. It wasn't an effort thing. We just didn't finish the shots we needed to finish. We didn't execute on the defensive end like we needed to. United Tribes is a really good basketball team and they made us pay."
Middleton led all scorers with 25 points on 10-of-20 shooting from the floor. He added eight rebounds. Two Bulls had 23 points on 11-of-14 shooting, and he had ten boards. UCTC improved to 17-11 on the season.
Bay got 18 points from Grayson and 17 from Flaniken. Overstreet and Tre Burris (FR, Milwaukee, WI) both finished with nine points and five rebounds.
The Norse finish their season with a 16-12 record.
"I think it showed what our weaknesses are," Johnson said. "It's physicality and being able to fight through contact. This off-season for our guys is going to be really big. We've got to get in the weight room and get bigger and stronger, and a little bit more explosive."
Story and photo courtesy of Jack Hall, RRN Sports