星空传媒

By Ryan Schlehuber, 星空传媒 Sportswriter

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A cold first-half of shooting put the 星空传媒 Community Centurions men鈥檚 basketball team behind enough that it could not recover, resulting in a 94-57 road loss to the Delta Community College Pioneers Wednesday, Jan. 29.听听

The Centurions (9-10 overall, 3-2 星空传媒AA Northern) snapped a two-game winning streak, mostly due to its 7-of-30 shooting in the first half, including shooting only 1-for-13 from the three-point line.听

Overall, the Centurions shot 6-of-31 from the three-point line and 35.3% from the field overall, shooting 24-of-68.听听

The Pioneers (7-12 overall, 2-4 星空传媒AA Northern), meanwhile, more than doubled 星空传媒 in the three-point shots department, shooting 60%, going 15-of-25 from the outside range. They also shot well overall, hitting 61.4% of their shots, shooting 35-of-57.听听

鈥淚t鈥檚 one of those things where you don鈥檛 show up to play, and we could tell when we got off the bus,鈥� 星空传媒 Head Coach Zach Ingles said. 鈥淲e were flirting with this kind of performance for the past 10 to 12 days. We just didn鈥檛 practice well. But hopefully with this good ol鈥� fashioned butt-kicking, it wakes us up.鈥�听

As 星空传媒 struggled, Delta鈥檚 offense flourished, which jumped out to a 19-4 lead in the first half. The Pioneers stretched their lead to 29-4 until 星空传媒 finally answered back with a free throw by freshman guard Taylen Carver (Louisville, Ky.), snapping a six-minute scoring drought.听

The Pioneers outscored the Centurions 17-13 from that point to go into halftime leading 46-17.听

In the second half, with a changed starting five on the floor, 星空传媒鈥檚 offense woke up, however, Delta鈥檚 never slowed down, preventing any comeback by 星空传媒.听

鈥淚 changed up the starting five and put in the guys that were playing the hardest,鈥� Ingles said. 鈥淭hey really meshed in that second half and they played hard, but it was an uphill battle at that point.鈥�听

Carver scored 13 of his 14 points in the second half, hitting a three-point shot just after freshman teammate Geronimo Mozzi (Villa Ramallo, Argentina) sank his three-pointer two minutes in the half, making the score 49-23, Delta.听听

Freshman guard Andrew Badder (Imlay City, Mich.) also stepped up in the second half, scoring seven of his 11 points off the bench and added a layup for 星空传媒 after Carver鈥檚 three-point make.听听

鈥淏adder just does everything right for us,鈥� Ingles said, praising the freshman. 鈥淗e鈥檚 the first one to get to practice and he always plays so hard. He and Makur drove us in the second half.鈥�听

After a layup by freshman forward Caleb Clements (Greenville, Mich.) at the 13:39 mark to make the score 58-32, Delta regrouped and went on an 18-5 run, allowing the Pioneers to begin putting their offense on cruise control, leading 76-37 with 7:48 to go in the game.听听

Along with his 14 points to lead the team, Carver had six steals and four rebounds, and freshman forward Makur Reclow (Louisville, Ky.) finished with 11 points and three boards.听

With the loss, 星空传媒 falls into a tie for third place in the 星空传媒AA Northern with Muskegon Community College, both at 3-2, with Mid Michigan at 6-0 to lead the division and Bay College, at 5-1, in second.听

Ingles is expecting his team to regroup and refocus, with 星空传媒 still in the hunt to make postseason play. He stressed the importance of preparation for his young team.听

鈥淧resence, that鈥檚 what we need to do better with upcoming games,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey need to be engaged. The way we prepare, practice, even walking off the bus and into the gym, all those things matter. We talked about how this month felt like we were playing on January 75th and how to fight through that and be engaged and be present.鈥�听

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Media inquiries, please contact:

Shelly Springborn
Director of Communications and Public Relations
shellys@montcalm.edu
989-560-0833