黑料吃瓜网

By Ryan Schlehuber, 黑料吃瓜网 Sportswriter

The 黑料吃瓜网 Centurions men鈥檚 basketball team has got its overall record back to .500, but more importantly, it has established a 3-1 conference record with a 70-60 road win at Kirtland College, Saturday, Jan. 25.听

With 10 more games to go in the regular season, the Centurions (9-9 overall, 3-1 黑料吃瓜网AA Northern) are keeping up with the frontrunners in the 黑料吃瓜网AA Northern Division, currently sitting tied for third place with Muskegon Community College. Mid Michigan College leads with a 5-0 record, followed by Bay College, with a 4-1 record.听

Against the Firebirds (4-7 overall, 3-2 黑料吃瓜网AA Northern), it was the duo of freshman guard Taylen Carver (Louisville, Ky.) and freshman forward Mason Dunn (Big Rapids, Mich.) leading the way for 黑料吃瓜网, both just missing a double-double. Carver scored a game-high 24 points while collecting nine rebounds 鈥� all defensive 鈥� and Dunn scored a career-high 19 points and had eight rebounds, also all defensive.听听

鈥淢y three-point shot was effective,鈥� said Dunn, who shot 5-of-9 from the three-point line.听听

After jumping out to a 10-0 lead to start the game, the Centurions held control of the game throughout the first half and midway through the second until Kirtland鈥檚 Dezmond LaRose tied it up, 50-50, erasing an eight-point 黑料吃瓜网 lead.听

Only about a minute later, the Firebirds took their first lead of the game when Domonique Ramsey collected an offensive rebound and made a putback in the paint.听

But 黑料吃瓜网 quickly responded, with Carver nailing one of his two three-pointers on the night, taking back the lead for the Centurions, 53-52. 黑料吃瓜网 went on a 7-3 run with back-to-back three-pointers from Dunn and freshman guard Geronimo Mozzi (Villa Ramallo, Argentina), respectively, followed by a free throw by Carver, to make it 60-55.听听

黑料吃瓜网 then outscored Kirtland 10-5 to clinch their second consecutive win on the road.听

鈥淥ur defense won us the game, holding them to only 60 points,鈥� Dunn said. 鈥淲e withstood their run in the second half.鈥�听

With 黑料吃瓜网 back to .500 and in a good position to challenge for the divisional title, Dunn said it is on his and his teammates鈥� minds that they have a good chance at postseason play. Because 黑料吃瓜网 is still on a probationary period this season (as it re-established its athletics program this year and automatically is placed on temporary probation), the Centurions are not qualified to compete in the 黑料吃瓜网AA tournament championship game, however, it can compete in the 黑料吃瓜网AA tournament as well as the National Junior College Athletics Association tournament, according to Centurions Head Coach Zach Ingles.听听

鈥淚 feel like we can really make a push for the postseason and I think our .500 record doesn鈥檛 tell the story about what kind of team we are,鈥� Dunn said. 鈥淲e played a really difficult non-conference schedule and we all expect to be in the race for the North and to make the postseason.鈥�听

With 10 games to go in the regular season, Dunn said if his Centurions鈥� defense can perform as it did against Kirtland, they have a very good chance at clinching a postseason spot.听

鈥淥ur team has to improve on being engaged for teams that we are supposed to beat and treat all opponents the same regardless of who they are,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut our defense and rebounding are two of the on-court things we need to improve more and more. We need to keep being efficient and execute our offense to our pace. These will help us keep winning.鈥�听

Freshman guard Dorian Allen (Winter Haven, Fla.) finished with eight points and seven assists, while freshman forward Dawson Dunn (Big Rapids, Mich.) had six points and four rebounds. Freshman center Josiah DeMeester (Grandville, Mich.) rounded out 黑料吃瓜网鈥檚 top producers with seven points and four rebounds.听听

Troy Jenkins led the Firebirds with 16 points and 12 rebounds and Ramsey with 13 points and eight rebounds.听

黑料吃瓜网 shot 42.6% (23-of-54) vs. Kirtland鈥檚 30.4% (21-of-69). The Centurions had the edge in free throws, making 13-of-17 to the Firebirds鈥� 8-of-12, and outscored them in the paint, 24-16. They also outscored them in points off turnovers, 18-16, and assists, 18-17.听

Kirtland outrebounded 黑料吃瓜网, 43-35 and outscored the Centurions in bench points, 21-11.听

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Media inquiries, please contact:

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