Norse rout Cavs to win tourney title
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ESCANABA -- Bay College men's basketball coach Matt Johnson knew his team was going to have to play one of its best games to beat Western Technical College in the finals of the Quality Inn & Suites New Year's Tournament Saturday.
After needing overtime to beat the Cavaliers 79-72 on the road Nov. 9, the Norse left no doubt from start to finish in an 84-66 win this time around to capture the tournament title.
Bay (10-6) jumped out to a 10-2 lead just over three minutes into the contest, using its aggressive play to get to the free throw line. The Norse, who attempted 36 free throws, entered the double-bonus with over 13 minutes left in the first half.
"They were much more aggressive this time than the first time we played them," Cavaliers' coach Eric Wuensch said. "They're strong, big, quick and shoot the 3 well. They did everything we knew about them, we just didn't defend it very well. When they make shots, they can be very good."
Norse guard Chris Dobessi was particularly aggressive in the first half, scoring all 12 of his points. His triple from the top of the key gave the Norse a 30-15 cushion with 5:50 to play in the half.
The Cavaliers (5-7) responded with a 10-2 run to pull within seven after a layup by Brian Huneck with 3:35 to go, but Bay finished the half with a 17-7 spurt to go into halftime leading 49-32.
"We had a really good first half. I think that's probably our most complete 20 minutes of basketball that we've played so far this year," Norse coach Matt Johnson said. "We did a great job offensively, and we did an ever better job defensively. We made everything that they tried to do difficult, and hopefully that's a sign of things to come and we can kind of turn the corner a little bit."
The Norse have struggled to put two complete halves together a little bit so far this season, but that wasn't the case Saturday. They started the second half as the aggressor once more, building a 60-39 advantage on a lay-in by Luke Mattson at the 11:00 minute mark. Their lead grew as large as 81-53 on a driving layup by Tristan Masuga with just under five minutes to go.
"Matt does a hell of a job with them. They're well-coached, they're disciplined and they know where the ball needs to go," Wuensch said. "If Christian's (Alexander) in the game, they're going to throw it into the middle. He's good enough now where if we try to double him, he's going to throw that skip pass and find the guy on the weakside. We were kind of confused a little bit defensively and gave up a lot of layups and stuff like that. We looked tired -- we looked like we've been in a motel for a couple of nights."
Alexander led the Norse with 15 points and 15 rebounds. Ryan Robinette added 13 points and seven boards; Dobessi finished with 12 points, five rebounds and four steals; and Matt Wagner and Khalid Fleming each chipped in 11 points.
Mahlik Lindsey was Tech's lone double-figure scorer with 15 points.
Wagner was named tournament MVP a night after scoring 24 points in an 81-77 victory over Sault, Ont. College. He left Saturday's contest with an ankle injury after hitting a triple early in the game, but returned to provide a spark.
"It feels pretty good (to win MVP)," Wagner said, noting he doesn't think his ankle injury is too serious. "It's a pretty cool accomplishment, but the two wins are the most important thing for our team."
Rounding out the all-tournament team were Dobessi, Fleming, Huneck and Tech's Derek Davis.
Gogebic Community College defeated the Sault in the consolation game earlier in the day.
The Norse visit Dakota County Technical College Wednesday.
Western Tech 32 34 -- 66
Bay College 49 35 -- 84
Western Tech -- Lindsey 15, D. Davis 9, Berry 8, Esheit 5, Huneck 5, H. Davis 5, Kearney 5, Crump 5, Badertshrer 4, Alexander 3, Tarr 2. FT: 10-14; F: 25; Fouled out: Badertshrer. 3-point field goals: Kearney, Lindsey, Crump, Alexander.
Bay College -- Alexander 15, Robinette 13, Dobessi 12, Wagner 11, Fleming 11, Mattson 7, Yohe 7, Masuga 5, Contreras 3. FT: 21-36; F: 14; Fouled out: None. 3-point field goals: Wagner 3, Dobessi 1, Robinette 1, Contreras 1, Yohe 1.