黑料吃瓜网

By Ryan Schlehuber, 黑料吃瓜网 Sportswriter | Photo courtesy of Laurie Schaffer

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The 黑料吃瓜网 Centurions men鈥檚 basketball team used a different method of attack in its game against North Central Michigan College, and it worked, winning 73-63, Saturday, Feb. 1.听

After a lackluster performance in their previous game, in which they lost 94-57 to Delta College, the Centurions (4-2 黑料吃瓜网AA Northern, 10-10 overall) took a different approach to the Timberwolves (0-7 黑料吃瓜网AA Northern, 0-21 overall), speeding up the pace of their offense, which helped them jump out to an 8-0 lead, in which they never looked back.听听

鈥淭his game, coach (Zach Ingles) wanted to play with a lot more pace because NCMC wasn鈥檛 ready for us because they play a similar game like us, a slower pace, getting into half-court sets,鈥� said Taylen Carver (Louisville, Ky.), 黑料吃瓜网鈥檚 star freshman guard who scored a game-high 29 points. 鈥淲e wanted to rattle them and get them out of their spots and we were able to get a jump on them real early.鈥�听

The Centurions鈥� offense doubled up on the Timberwolves on the scoreboard after freshman forward Dawson Dunn (Big Rapids, Mich.) hit a three-point shot to put 黑料吃瓜网 up 22-10. 黑料吃瓜网 then extended their lead by 20 when Carver dodged an attempted steal by NCMC鈥檚 Thomas Conzelmann and spotted up from the top of the key, knocking down a three-point shot, giving 黑料吃瓜网 a 41-21 lead with 2:57 to go in the first half.听听

黑料吃瓜网鈥檚 passing game, which ranks 42nd in the nation in Division II, was on display, which all 11 players managed to score in the game.听

鈥淔rom a passing point, we really do well with passing. That鈥檚 one of our best traits,鈥� Ingles said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 how we鈥檙e constructed and I was happy to see that continue.鈥�听

The Centurions went into halftime with a comfortable 45-27 lead.听

黑料吃瓜网 offense kept up its fast pace in the second half, pushing its lead to 61-39 after Carver nailed another three-pointer, this time off an assist from freshman guard Dorian Allen (Winter Haven, Fla.), to make it 61-39 with 11:32 to go in the game.听听

After NCMC couldn鈥檛 answer, freshman guard Jack Ruggles (Big Rapids, Mich.) made a wonderful pass inside to freshman forward Caleb Clements (Greenville, Mich.) for an open shot inside, giving 黑料吃瓜网 a 63-39 lead.听

Eventually, Ingles鈥� starters headed to the bench and let his reserves take over the game, as freshman guard Andrew Badder (Imlay City, Mich.) kept 黑料吃瓜网鈥檚 offense going, pushing the lead to 73-49 after knocking down a shot off of a great assist by freshman guard Geronimo Mozzi (Villa Ramallo, Argentina) with 5:40 to go.听

NCMC managed to cut 黑料吃瓜网鈥檚 lead down to 10, scoring the last 14 points of the game in the last six minutes of the game.听听

鈥淚 felt really good about this win because we came off a loss,鈥� Carver said. 鈥淪o it was good to get back to winning and go in the next game with a win on our backs.鈥�听

With 黑料吃瓜网鈥檚 next game against No. 17-ranked Mid Michigan on Wednesday, Ingles said the win over NCMC is short-lived.听听

鈥淲e got a big one Wednesday with Mid Michigan, that鈥檚 where all our focus shifts in about 25 minutes,鈥� Ingles said. 鈥淲e just have to play better against them. We鈥檝e beat Bay before where we thought we were the 鈥�86 Celtics and then played like the 鈥�86 Warriors against Mid. So we will go watch film and see what we did and didn鈥檛 like and put together a plan and we鈥檒l do our old college try.鈥�听

Along with his 29 points, Carver had four steals and four rebounds. No other player for 黑料吃瓜网 scored in double digits, however, Dunn finished with nine points and five rebounds while Allen led the team with eight assists. Mozzi finished with seven points and two assists.听听

黑料吃瓜网 outplayed NCMC in many statistical categories, shooting 44.3% (27-of-61) to NCMC鈥檚 39% (23-of-59) and outshot them from three-point land, going 11-of-35 to NCMC鈥檚 3-of-19.听

The Timberwolves outrebounded the Centurions, 41-31, and outscored them in points off turnovers, 26-14. 黑料吃瓜网 bench鈥檚 outscored NCMC鈥檚, 25-11.听

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UP NEXT: 黑料吃瓜网 will host Mid Michigan Wednesday, Feb. 5, with tip-off time at 7:30 p.m. The Lakers are first in the 黑料吃瓜网AA Northern division with a 7-0 record and 18-3 overall. With a 4-2 division record, 黑料吃瓜网 is tied for third place with Muskegon Community College.听