GOCC men fall short at LMC

Despite a healthy first-half lead Wendnesay on the road, the Glen Oaks men's basketball team dropped an 80-78 decision at Lake Michigan College that kept fans on the edge of their seats. 

Glen Oaks built a 23-16 with 5:26 to go in the first half before a LMC 3-pointer tightened things up. Joreim Lomax knocked down a pair of free throws and a great defensive stop and a rebound by Keri Foster led to a layup by Foster on the other end for a 27-19 lead with 3:21 to go in the opening half. But LMC would go on an 8-4 run to make it a 31-27 game by halftime. 

By the 12:11 mark in the second half, however, the Red Hawks had pulled ahead 48-40. Kelvion Brown and Amauri Moore scored from close range to cut the deficit in half, but LMC quickly pushed the lead back to 11 points. The Vikings chipped away and got back within six (59-53) with 7:06 to play. A Lomax triple and a foul shot by Moore made it a one-point game briefly until the Red Hawks answered with back-to-back 3-pointers to take the wind out of the Vikings' sails at the 4:06 mark. 

A bucket in the paint by Brown and a trey by Foster kept GOCC within a possession, but LMC would get to the line and make two free throws with under 3 minutes to play for a 67-62 advantage. Undercut on an offensive rebound attempt, Brown drained a pair of foul shots to get back within three. Lake Michigan ran the clock down and drew a foul, resulting in two made free throws to extend the lead to five. Lomax hit a mid-range jumper on the Vikings' next possession, but LMC returned the favor. 

Moore powered to the rim for a layup before LMC got an alley-oop jam with four seconds left on the shot clock to boost the lead to 73-68 with 45 seconds remaining. A Moore drive kept GOCC in it, though the Red Hawks made both free throws on the other end after an intentional foul. Brown got to the rack for a score and Glen Oaks fouled again, trailing 75-72 with 15 seconds to go. Again, Lake Michigan hit both foul shots to turn the screws. 

Darius Styles buried a 3-pointer from the corner to make it a three-point contest. Lake Michigan remained locked in at the stripe and made both free throws. Styles knocked down another triple with 2.6 seconds left, but LMC hit one more free throw to finish out the win. 

Moore led GOCC with 17 points, Brown and Akin Smith each had 13, Lomax finished with 12, Styles had 10 and Jaiden Stamps scored 2. Brown paced the Vikings with 10 rebounds, Smith and Brown both had three assists, and Smith and Stamps made one block apiece. 

LMC outscored Glen Oaks 21-12 at the foul line for the game. 

The Vikings slipped to 10-14 overall and 2-8 in MCCAA Western Conference play.