Bay men falter in second half
ESCANABA — Despite an up and down first half, the Bay College men’s basketball team felt pretty good about where it sat at halftime.
The second half, however, was a different story.
Leading 39-31 at the half, Bryant & Stratton started the second half with eight straight points and went on a 17-2 run to blow the game wide open and run away with a 95-64 victory over the Norse Saturday in what might have been Bay’s final home game.
“We weren’t happy with the way the first half ended, but we thought we were in a pretty good position down eight against these guys,” Norse coach Matt Johnson said. “We responded against them in the second half at their place a week ago (in a 90-80 loss). I was obviously a little discouraged (at halftime) because I thought we could have played better, but I wasn’t overly nervous at all. I thought we were in a position where we’d be able to make a run and do some things … it just didn’t happen to be the case.”
The game went back and forth early, as the Norse (16-9) led 13-12 after a pair of free throws by Matt Wagner with 12:05 left in the first half. Even after falling behind 21-13, Bay responded to pull within 25-24 after a 3-point play by Christian Alexander.
The Bobcats (16-9), however, scored the next 10 points and went into halftime leading by eight before imposing their will in the second half.
“The most disappointing thing is the fact that we didn’t compete,” Johnson said. “I really didn’t think we competed. I thought that we were really flat, and it was the first time probably all this year where I felt like we just didn’t bring it and get after it… Against a team this good, that can’t be the case. It just flat out cannot be.
“I thought defensively we were pretty bad, and that doesn’t team well when you don’t make shots. All in all, it wasn’t a good equation and it worked out exactly how it should have probably with the effort. We just need to do a better job.”
Latik Murphy led the Bobcats with 28 points, while Khaleb Wilson-Rouse added 14. Luke Taylor finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds, while Chris Bready added 12 points.
Wagner and Alexander led the Norse with 14 points each. Ryan Robinette finished with 11 points and seven rebounds, while Chris Dobessi added 10 points and eight boards.
The Bobcats shot 33 for 68 from the field for nearly 50%, held a 43-33 rebounding advantage and committed just nine turnovers. The Norse were 24 for 69 from the field — including 4 for 34 from 3-point range — and had 13 miscues.
“There were a bunch of kids that worked really, really hard … I just don’t know if we were productive with some of that,” Johnson said. “I’ll go right through the sophomore class — Ryan Robinette, Christian Alexander, Luke Mattson — those are the hardest working guys in the gym every single day. They are when we practice and they are when we play. There were a handful of other guys that I thought really brought it today, but unfortunately, it wasn’t enough of us, and we didn’t have enough guys on the floor at the same time that did. If you’re not hitting shots, you can’t get away without having everybody playing incredibly hard.”
The Norse visit Gogebic Community College Wednesday, needing a win to have a shot to host a Region 13 playoff game. If they come away with a victory, it will come down to a coin flip to determine who hosts the playoff game between them and Dakota County Technical College. The two teams split during the regular season, with each winning on the road.
Bryant & Stratton 39 56 — 95
Bay College 31 33 — 64
Bryant & Stratton — Wilson-Rouse 14, Murphy 28, Johnson 2, Taylor 16, Jentzen 6, Bready 12, Thompson 4, Thomas 2, Lacerte 5, Scheuermann 6. FT: 21-25; F: 16; Technical foul: Richer. 3-point field goals: Murphy 3, Bready 3, Taylor 1, Lacerte 1.
Bay College — Dobessi 10, Wagner 14, Robinette 11, Mattson 3, Alexander 14, Fleming 4, Harris 3, Masuga 5. FT: 12-18; F: 18; 3-point field goals: Wagner 2, Harris 1, Masuga 1.