IRONWOOD, MI – The Bay Norse Men's Basketball Team (6-0) stayed undefeated by taking a pair of games in the Lindquist Classic hosted by Gogebic Community College this past weekend. On Saturday they blew by the Minnesota North-Hibbing Cardinals (2-5) by a final score of 102-54. They followed that up with a 66-60 win over Minnesota North-Vermilion (3-4) on Sunday afternoon.
The Norse used a 13-2 run in the first half to gain control of the opener. Bay stayed hot from the floor throughout to continue to build a lead and took a 37-25 lead at half.
Jacquez Overstreet (SO, Appleton, WI) and Baril Mawo (FR, Manchester, NH) led the charge in the second half as a 28-7 run blew the game wide open. The Norse were able to cruise to a 48-point victory.
Bay held a huge advantage in rebounds, grabbing 53 total rebounds to Hibbing's 30. The Norse shot the ball tremendously well, hitting 55.9% from the floor. That included going ten of 20 from three-point.
Six different players finished in double-digits for Bay. Mawo led the way with 19 points and eight rebounds. Overstreet ended up going six of eight from behind the three-point arc to end up with 18 points, five rebounds, and three assists. Justin Nelson (SO, Iron River, MI) ended up with 13 points, six rebounds, and three assists. Colin Hudson (FR, Escanaba, MI) and Genesis Kemp (FR, Grand Rapids, MI) each scored 11 points, while Jaylen Flaniken (SO, Troy, MI) finished with ten points and seven rebounds.
For Hibbing Schuyler Pimentel (SO, St. Louis, MO) set the pace with 18 points and six rebounds. Ray Washington-Battle Jr. (SO, Silver Spring, MD) ended up with ten points and five rebounds.
Against the Ironhawks the Norse had some ups and downs. After trailing early, they used a run to open up a lead. Kemp put down a dunk to boost the Norse, and they took a 30-20 lead into intermission.
The Norse came out hot in the second half and built a 22-point lead and looked to be cruising to victory. Vermilion took advantage of their opponents looking to be on cruise control and a mad rush toward the end closed the gap. The Ironhawks outscored the Norse 20-8 in the final six minutes, relying on some outside shooting to get them back into the game. Fortunately for Bay, time ran out on the comeback effort, and the Norse held on to a 66-60 victory.
The Norse were woefully bad from the three-point line, hitting just one of 20 attempts. They did shoot 3802% overall however, and knocked down 13 of 17 from the free throw line. For a second straight night they controlled the glass grabbing 45 rebounds to Vermilion's 36. The Norse also forced their opponent into18 turnovers.
Tyrel Creger (FR, Owatonna, MN) picked up his first career double-double with a stat line of 14 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Kemp's pair of dunks helped him to 14 points on the day. Nelson finished with 11 points and four rebounds while Lamar Grayson (SO, Richfield, MN) also had 11 points.
Vermilion's Brian Ritchie led all scorers with 16 points while he grabbed five rebounds. CJ Brown scored 14 points, while Ronald Ducros had 12 points and six rebounds. Sammy Russ ended his day with ten points and eight rebounds.
The Norse will continue their road stretch with a trip to Dakota County Technical College on December 3. They will play their former Region 13 rivals at 3 pm.