ESCANABA, MI – The #20 ranked Bay College Norse Men's Basketball Team (24-4, 14-0 MCCAA) capped off an undefeated conference season and their first ever MCCAA Northern Conference Championship by taking down the Mid Michigan College Lakers (20-6, 11-2) in a closely contested 76-74 contest.
The Norse led for the majority of the first half and stretched their advantage to ten points late in the half. A 16-3 run put the Lakers right back into the thick of things as they took the lead for the first time in the game with just over a minute left in the first half. Mid Michigan held a 37-36 lead at the break.
Once again it was Bay taking control early on in the second half. Fourteen unanswered points put them in control and up 50-37. Bay enjoyed a double-digit lead for much of the period.
With the Norse up 69-58 and under seven minutes to play, Mid Michigan stepped up and tried to claim their share of the Northern Conference Title. Satchel Love (SO, Detroit, MI), nailed a three-pointer, Jayden Sims (SO, Toledo, OH) hit a jumper, and Delon McCloud (FR, Kentwood, MI) was good on another shot, pulling the Lakers to within four with five minutes to play.
From that point on the contest turned into what looked to be a heavyweight bout. Both teams stood toe-to-toe and took each other's best shots, looking to find an edge. Key blocked shots, defensive stands, loose ball scrambles, and free throws down the stretch added to the excitement, as a raucous crowd filled the Bay College Gymnasium and added to an already tense atmosphere.
When Sims hit a shot from behind the three-point arc and Love hit another jumper with four minutes left, the game was tied for the first time since late in the first half.
The teams traded points and the game ended up coming down to free throws in the waning minutes. It was Bay's turn at the charity stripe with just over a minute to play and Jacquez Overstreet (SO, Appleton, WI) answered the call, hitting both attempts.
With time winding down the Lakers made it to the line to try and tie the contest up, but the gymnasium reached a decibel level of an all new level as the Norse faithful almost willed the ball out of the hoop and the Mid Michigan squad missed both their attempts.
With just 20 seconds to play the Lakers got another opportunity to tie from the free throw line, but could only get one of two attempts to fall, making the score 75-74 in favor of Bay College.
Moments later Lamar Grayson (SO, Richfield, MN) split a pair from the free throw line, giving the Norseback a two-point lead and setting up one last effort from the Lakers.
McCloud ended up with what looked to be a good look, but Colin Hudson (FR, Escanaba, MI) swatted it out of bounds. With just a few seconds left the Lakers got the ball to the corner after a deflection, but the buzzer-beating attempt fell well short, allowing the Norse to celebrate a 76-74 victory and a conference championship.
The Norse had 20 steals which helped force 28 turnovers in the game which proved to be the deciding factor as the Lakers shot a bit better then their hosts (48.1% for Mid Michigan, 41.5% for Bay College). The Lakers enjoyed a big advantage in the rebounding department gathering 48 of them to the Norse's 27 total rebounds.
Bay had six players in double-digit scoring, including: Colin Hudson with 18 points, Genesis Kemp (FR, Grand Rapids, MI) with 13 points, Tyrel Creger (FR, Owatonna, MN) with 12 points, Grayson with 12 points, and Justin Nelson (SO, Iron River, MI) with ten points.
Kemp led the rebounding statistics for the Norse grabbing six of them. Creger ended up with four assists and four steals, while Grayson had three assists and five steals. Nelson had four steals while Overstreet and Colin Hudson each had three.
Leading all scorers was Sims for the Lakers who had a double-double. He finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, and two blocks. Love had 17 points and five rebounds while Makhi McCombs (SO, Flint, MI) scored 11 points and grabbed five rebounds. Javel Lewis Jr. (SO, Lansing, MI) grabbed 11 rebounds.
The Norse have now won 15 consecutive games and will prepare for the postseason. For Head Coach Matt Johnson it was also a career milestone as he secured his 200th career win in the contest.
Bay College advances to the MCCAA Men's Basketball Championship and will play the Western Conference Champions, Kalamazoo Valley Community College (22-5, 10-2 MCCAA). That game will be played on Saturday at 3 pm. The winner of that game advances to play the Eastern Conference Champion, Henry Ford College (23-4, 14-0 MCCAA) for the MCCAA Men's Championship. Both of those games will be played at Henry Ford College.
The Norse also know that they have qualified for the Great Lakes Regional A Tournament to be held at Mott Community College in Flint, MI. Bay's first game of that tournament will be on March 10 as they await the winner of the West 3 vs. 4 seed.