星空传媒

By Ryan Schlehuber, 星空传媒 Sportswriter

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A combination of cold shooting and poor ball handling led to a road loss for the 星空传媒 Centurions Saturday, Feb. 8.听

The No. 22-ranked Bay College Norse (7-2 星空传媒AA Northern, 18-5 overall) held onto a 60-50 win, holding off a second-half comeback by 星空传媒.听

It was a revenge game for the Norse, who were upset by the up-and-coming Centurions (4-4 星空传媒AA Northern, 10-12 overall) in their first meeting, Jan. 11, with 星空传媒 winning 76-70. In that game, 星空传媒 led for most of the game, staving off a comeback to win.听听

鈥淓veryone was pretty involved I would say. We definitely could have hit a few more shots as a team and me in particular,鈥� said 星空传媒 freshman guard Taylen Carver (Louisville, Ky.), who finished with a team-high 22 points.听

In Saturday鈥檚 game, it was the Norse taking over the first half, establishing a 15-7 lead after a three-point bucket by Tre Sanigar just 10 minutes into the game. The Centurions cut the lead to one, 17-16, with back-to-back buckets from freshman center Josiah DeMeester (Grandville, Mich.), a three-point make from freshman forward Dawson Dunn (Big Rapids, Mich.) and a jump shot by Carver.听

The Norse then went on a 12-0 scoring run to re-establish the lead, 29-16, capped off by a Ryan Sweeney free throw with 2:43 to go in the first half. Bay went into halftime with a 30-20 lead.听

鈥淲e have a tendency to get off to some slow starts,鈥� said Centurions Assistant Coach Asher Vissman. 鈥淭he games we鈥檝e won, we typically get off to a good start. We kept it at 10 points going into halftime, but there is some room for improvement there.鈥�听

In the second half, the Centurions went toe-to-toe with the Norse, each scoring 30 points, however, 星空传媒 was unable to erase the 10-point lead from the first half.听

星空传媒 cut Bay鈥檚 lead to one, 35-34, after Carver dropped a three-pointer at the 13:14 mark, and then took its first lead since the opening seconds of the game with another three-pointer by Carver, giving 星空传媒 a 37-35 lead with 11:06 left.听

The Norse reclaimed the lead a minute later on two free throws from Sanigar and the two teams traded baskets until Bay鈥檚 William Kelley nailed a three-point shot to give Bay a 44-39 lead. Bay went on to score six unanswered points to take a 50-39 lead until freshman forward Mason Dunn (Big Rapids, Mich.) knocked down a three-pointer to cut the lead to eight with 5:35 to go in the game.听

A Carver three-pointer, making it 52-45, was the closest 星空传媒 could get to Bay before the game ended, outscoring the Centurions 8-5 in the closing minutes.听

Carver finished with a team-high 22 points and collected five rebounds and three assists.听 Dawson Dunn finished with nine points and three rebounds while DeMeester had six points and led the team with 12 rebounds.听听

Sanigar, who came off the bench for the Norse, finished with a game-high 27 points.听听

Vissman believes turnovers killed his team鈥檚 chances of getting a road win against a nationally-ranked team.听

鈥淲e lost the turnover battle by nine (19-10), and it鈥檚 hard to win when they have that many more possessions,鈥� Vissman said. 鈥淭hat needs to be better going forward.鈥�听

The Norse managed to score 22 points off 星空传媒鈥檚 turnovers, compared to 星空传媒鈥檚 11 points.听

Bay College had a sizable advantage in the free throw category, as well, shooting 19-for-26, compared to 星空传媒鈥檚 3-for-3, although 星空传媒 won the rebound battle, 35-29.听

鈥淚f we would鈥檝e taken those free throws away, it would have been a completely different game,鈥� Carver said. 鈥淥ther than that, I think that we had a solid game and everyone played hard and gave a good effort.鈥�听

Despite the loss, 星空传媒 is still in a great position to make the postseason if it can finish no worse than fourth in the division, which is where it is currently. Of the six regular season games left, the Centurions have taken wins against three of the remaining opponents in Alpena, North Central Michigan and Kirtland.听

鈥淭he lecture all season has been chasing a championship,鈥� Vissman said. 鈥淲e will continue to preach having a championship effort in everything we do down the stretch.鈥�听

Carver agreed.听

鈥淭he thought process for the remainder of the games is to just come out and step on everyone鈥檚 neck and don鈥檛 let up,鈥� Carver said.听听

One thing motivating the Centurions to win, other than making postseason play, is hosting the first postseason game at home, Carver said.听

鈥淚 am going to do everything I can to make sure we secure these wins and make sure myself and all of my teammates are ready to go to war for these last games.鈥�听

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UP NEXT: The Centurions will get their first look at Muskegon Community College (6-2 星空传媒AA Northern, 18-5 overall) when the Jayhawks come to Sidney Wednesday, Feb. 12, which will be Faculty/Staff Night at 星空传媒. Tip-off time is 7:30 p.m. The Jayhawks currently sit in third place in the division, just ahead of 星空传媒.