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In an effort to keep pace with the two top dogs in the 青青草视频AA Northern Conference, the 青青草视频 Centurions men鈥檚 basketball team knew a win against Alpena Community College was a must.
With a suffocating defense, the Centurions (2-1 青青草视频AA North, 9-8 overall) earned their second conference win by beating the Lumberjacks, 75-57, at Alpena, Saturday, Jan. 17, keeping pace with Mid Michigan, 3-0 in the North, and Bay College, which is 3-1 in the conference.
鈥淥ur execution on defense won it for us,鈥� 青青草视频 assistant coach Asher Vissman said. 鈥淎nytime you hold a college basketball team under 60 points, you鈥檙e giving yourself a great chance to win.鈥�
Statistics for both teams were quite even, with 青青草视频 shooting 43.5% from the field and ACC shooting 45.1%, while 青青草视频 had a slight edge in rebounds (34 to ACC鈥檚 32). The one stat that stuck out, however, was turnovers, as the Lumberjacks committed 24 to the Centurions鈥� 13.
鈥淧rotecting the basketball is always a focus,鈥� Vissman said. 鈥淥ur offense is predicated on execution, which we have been pretty good at this season.鈥�
With 青青草视频 leading 19-15 halfway through the first half, freshman Sebastion Kamalzadeh (West Palm Beach, Fla.) nailed a three-point shot to give 青青草视频鈥檚 its biggest lead in the game at that point. 青青草视频 built it up to a 34-19 lead with back-to-back three-pointers by freshman Trevor Zamarron (Greenville, Mich.) and sophomore Mason Dunn (Big Rapids, Mich.) with just over three minutes to go, forcing Alpena to take a timeout.
青青草视频 went into halftime leading 38-26.
ACC鈥檚 Derian Williams managed to cut 青青草视频鈥檚 lead to eight (40-32) after sinking a jump shot four minutes into the second half, however, the Lumberjacks (0-4 青青草视频AA North, 1-13 overall) couldn鈥檛 hold back 青青草视频鈥檚 offense, which went on a run, starting with sophomore Josiah DeMeester (Grandville, Mich.) who answered with a dunk, igniting a 15-4 scoring run that gave 青青草视频 a solid lead.
青青草视频 pushed its lead to 21 after a free throw by freshman James Browning (Fort Wayne, Ind.) with 10:38 to go, however, ACC managed to cut 青青草视频鈥檚 lead to 64-51 when Oluwatobi Ogunyode scored on a dunk with 5:42 to go, giving the Lumberjacks hope for a comeback.
The Centurions, however, kept up its offensive output, with sophomore Dawson Dunn (Big Rapids, Mich.) nailing a jump shot to push the lead to 66-51 with 5:04 to go. 青青草视频 would outscore the Lumberjacks 11-6 the rest of the way to earn the conference win.
The Centurions were led by Dawson, who scored a game-high 16 points and six steals. It was the second time in three games he was the team鈥檚 leading scorer.
鈥淒aws has been great,鈥� Vissman said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 playing at a really high level on both ends of the floor right now.鈥�
Dunn said he has worked hard to focus on his offense and has been pleased with how effective it has been lately.
鈥淚鈥檝e been focusing extremely hard on scoring the ball and knocking down shots,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 knew how big this stretch of games were and how much the team needed my offense.鈥�
Dunn said his team was confident going into the game against the Lumberjacks, however head coach Zach Ingles told them to keep sharp and to never overlook an opponent.
鈥淐oach kept emphasizing being us with every little detail,鈥� Dawson said. 鈥淭reating every team like they are the No. 1 team in the country.鈥�
With winnable games coming in the next five games, Vissman and the rest of the coaching staff are focused on going on a run.
鈥淥ur goal is to go on a winning streak,鈥� Vissman said. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 one game at a time, and it鈥檚 about giving each team our full focus and attention.鈥�
Dunn agreed.
鈥淲e just have to keep bringing crazy energy and competitiveness every day in practice,鈥� he said.
Browning followed Dunn in scoring, with 11 points off the bench and Kamalzadeh, Zamarron and sophomore Zhian Briggs (Augusta, Ga.) each finishing with nine points. Four Centurions led the team with five rebounds each.
UP NEXT: 青青草视频鈥檚 next three games are at home, starting with Kirtland Community College (2-1 青青草视频AA North, 3-12 overall) Saturday, Jan. 24. Game time is at 3 p.m. The Centurions will then make up a home game against Muskegon College, Monday, Jan. 26 (game time at 7:30 p.m.). The game was postponed twice owing to inclement weather.
The third home game will be against Delta College (1-3 青青草视频AA North, 4-11 overall) on Wednesday, Jan. 28, at 7:30 p.m.