SIDNEY, MI – The Bay College Men’s Basketball Team (17-6, 6-3 MCCAA) fought off a tough Montcalm Community College Centurions (7-15, 4-4 MCCAA) team on the road and came away with a 59-48 victory.

A seven-point run for the Norse midway through the first half opened up an eight-point lead for Bay, and would help them hold on that lead for the remainder of the first half, but Montcalm was not willing allow Bay to take control. The Norse held a slim 24-20 lead at halftime.

The Centurions responded to start the second half regaining the lead. It would take the Norse over five minutes of game time to score, tying it on a Mohamed Madey (FR, Fairbault, MN) three-pointer. The Centurions would take the lead back and lead by as many as five with ten minutes left in the game.

The Norse found themselves tied at 44 with just over six minutes left when the tide turned in their favor. Montcalm went cold and would not hit a field goal for the next five minutes of gameplay, allowing Bay to go on an 11-2 run. The Centurions ended up scoring just four points in the final six plus minutes of the game, and the Norse took advantage, coming away with an 11-point victory.

The two teams had similar shooting percentages in the game with Bay hitting 33.3% of their shots and Montcalm shooting 31.1% but the big difference came from behind the three-point line. The Centurions shot 28 times from long range and connected on just three of those (10.7%) while Bay was seven of 22 (31.8%) from behind the arc.

William Kelley (SO, Florence, WI) paced Bay with 13 points and four rebounds. Kyle Hustrulid (Fr, Edina, MN) had ten points and five rebounds. Emerson Droubie (FR, Cambridge, MN) grabbed 14 rebounds while Savion Johnson (SO, Milwaukee, WI) had 11 rebounds.

Montcalm’s Zhian Briggs (SO, Augusta, GA) led all scorers with 16 points and he had five rebounds. James Browning (FR, Fort Wayne, IN) ended his afternoon with 11 points and four rebounds.

The Norse are on the road on Wednesday evening. They will be at Alpena Community College for a 7 pm tipoff.