ESCANABA, MI – The Bay College Men's Basketball Team (4-0) continued their hot start by remaining undefeated as they hosted Mesabi Range on Friday and Madison College on Saturday. On Friday the Norse won a bizarre game by the final of 73-55 and held on to beat the Wolfpack 73-69 on Saturday.
Mesabi Range came out of the gates fast and took an early lead in Friday's affair. Bay found themselves down 13-6 and had to claw their way back into the game. With the visitors leading 16-10 Bay went on a small run to tie the game at the midpoint of the half.
With just over six minutes to play in the first half Jacquez Overstreet (SO, Appleton, WI) got a good look and hit a three-pointer to give Bay their first lead of the game. Bay would not surrender that lead from that point on and held a four-point lead at the half.
A 14-2 run to start the second half opened up the deficit and finally put the home team in a comfortable spot. With the Norse leading by double-digits, the game took an interesting turn. Mesabi Range had a player receive two technical fouls in just over a minute of play, which immediately disqualified that player from the contest. More importantly it gave the homestanding Norse trips to the charity line, allowing them to take a 13-point lead and make it an 18-point lead in that short stretch.
From there the closest Mesabi Range could get would be 14 points in the closing minutes. The visitors were tagged with two more technical fouls as the game bogged down due to a number of fouls being called as order was restored. In the end Mesabi Range was called for 22 total fouls and Bay College was whistled for 21. It resulted in 25 free throw attempts for Mesabi Range and 32 for Bay.
Unfortunately for Mesabi Range they were not able to shoot it well enough to climb back into the game. They left points at the free throw line, only connecting on 12 of those 25 attempts. They also shot just 28.8% from the floor and hit just one of 11 shots from behind the arc.
Bay College ended up shooting 38.6% from the floor and knocking down six of 20 from three. They were also a bit better at the charity stripe, hitting 23 of 32 free throws.
Genesis Kemp (FR, Grand Rapids, MI) led Bay with 15 points. Tyrel Creger (FR, Owatonna, MN) grabbed nine rebounds and had five assists while Baril Mawo (FR, Manchester, NH) brought down eight rebounds.
Two players scored in double-digits for Mesabi Range. Nataj Sanders (SO, Louisville, KY) finished with ten points, as did Michael Johnson (SO, Minneapolis, MN).
Saturday looked to be a runaway game early on as the Norse jumped out to a 17-4 lead in the first six minutes of the game. The Wolfpack offense came alive after that point, but struggled to slow down the Norse as the home team hit on 15 of 30 attempts in the first half. Bay found themselves up 16 at the break.
The Norse found themselves with a golden opportunity to pull away to start the second half and take control of the game, but Madison would not allow it. Bay cooled off in the second half and the Wolfpack used small runs to slowly chip away at the lead.
The Norse still led by 14 with just over three minutes to play when things got interesting. Nik Feller (SO, Poynette, WI) and a Madison stop followed by a successful basket and Bay foul closed the gap. Deante Luster (FR, Columbia, SC) made the subsequent free throw to complete the three-point play, and suddenly the Norse lead was just eight points.
Bay found themselves unable to extend that lead despite forcing some turnovers and having some chances. The Wolfpack took advantage and closed the lead to four in the final minute, but were forced to send the Norse to the line to extend the contest. Despite their last field goal coming with over three minutes to play in the game, the home team got just enough down the stretch, making five of six free throws to hold on for the win.
Lamar Grayson (SO, Richfield, MN) used 11 of 12 shooting from the free throw line to end up with 21 points. Creger added 11 points and five rebounds while Jaylen Flaniken (SO, Troy, MI) ended his night with 11 points as well.
Keith Hoffman (SO, Stevens Point, WI) led Madison with 17 points and nine rebounds. Feller hit three times from behind the arc and had 17 points, while Luster ended with 11 points and eight rebounds. Telin Porter (SO, Houston, TX) added ten points.
Bay takes a weekend off before heading on the road for the first time this season. They are at the Lindquist Classic hosted by Gogebic Community College. On Saturday, November 26 they Norse will take on Minnesota North – Hibbing at 5 pm. On Sunday they have a noon matchup with Minnesota North – Vermilion.