PORT HURON, MI – The Bay College Norse Men’s Basketball Team (11-2) won two hard-fought battles in the Skippers New Years Classic hosted by St. Clair Community College. In their first game they defeated the hosts by a score of 66-57. On Saturday they held of the Macomb Monarchs by a final score of 73-70.

The Norse never trailed against St. Clair County (9-6), but could never really pull away. A 12-2 run later in the first half gave Bay an 11-point with just over six minutes to play before half. The Skippers cut the lead to three, but Bay went on another small run to make it a 32-23 lead at the half.

The Norse opened up their biggest lead of the game with an Emerson Droubie (FR, Cambridge, MN) three, giving Bay a 12-point lead, but it was short-lived. SC4 quickly made it a two-possession game, and it stayed that way for the majority of the half. St. Clair County pulled to within three points down the stretch, the final time being with two free throws with just over a minute to play. The Norse defense closed the game out by not allowing another basket and putting it away on the free throw line, taking the 66-57 victory.

Droubie had 13 points and six rebounds for the Norse. William Kelley (SO, Florence, WI) was three of five from three-point and had 13 points. Trey Frye III (FR, Milwaukee, WI) had 12 points and six points. Savion Johnson (SO, Milwaukee, WI) finished with ten rebounds.

The Skippers were led by Riley Hunt (FR, Mississauga, ON) who had 16 points, four rebounds, eight assists, and four steals. Chris McLavish (FR, Flint, MI) had 13 points, while Kevin Tiggs (SO, Flint, MI) added 12 points. De’Andre Terrell (SO, Detroit, MI) had ten points and six rebounds.

After some back-and-forth in the early going, Saturday’s game saw the Norse holding a small lead for the majority of the matchup. Macomb (7-8) trailed by six at the half, but failed to make a run to take control of the game.

With Bay leading by eight with under five minutes to play, the Monarchs were able to close the gap and a Tabari Howard (SO, Columbus, OH) three-pointer made the score 65-63 in favor of the Norse. The teams traded points and Bay knocked down a pair of free throws to take a five-point advantage, but Howard came up big again, this time getting fouled at the rim and completing a three-point play, putting Macomb down by just two.

It was up to the Norse to seal the game at the free throw line, and Frye sank both of his on the next possession. After a Monarch score, the Norse went to the line with just five seconds left. They would miss the second from the charity stripe, but Macomb was not able to get a desperation heave off, and Bay survived a close one, winning by three.

The Norse shot the ball well in the contest, hitting 50.9% from the floor. They outrebounded the Monarchs 32-29. Macomb hit on 43.4% of their shots, and connected on 12 of 34 free throw attempts. The Norse got to the line 25 times and made just 14 of those attempts.

Bay was led by Adam Page (FR, Chicago, IL) who had 13 points and five rebounds. Ziad Abouali (FR, Cairo, Egypt) and Taveon Vann (SO, Milwaukee, WI) had 12 points apiece, while Kelley had another solid shooting performance, going three for six from behind the arc and was good for 11 points and six rebounds.

The Monarchs had three players finish the game with 13 points. They were Howard, who had five rebounds, Caron Williams (RS-SO, Mount Clemens, MI) who grabbed six rebounds, and Lajaun Holloway (RS-SO, Detroit, MI), who also had five rebounds.

Bay College has one non-conference game left. They host the number 24 ranked Bryant and Stratton (WI) on Wednesday. That game will follow the Women’s game and will tip at approximately 7:30 pm.