Bay College Basketball cruises to sweep of Illinois squad

The Bay College Men's Basketball Team (8-4) would pull away early and cruise to victory over the Harper College Hawks (1-8) on Friday night. The Norse would walk away with a 75-47 victory on the road.

The two teams would trade the lead early and be tied at four in the early going. An 18-2 Bay College run would give the Norse control of the game for good. Bay would create 17 first half turnovers by the Hawks to create a commanding lead. Harper would trail by a wide margin, with the score standing at 42-23 at the half.

The Hawks would make adjustments in the second half to limit turnovers, but the Norse would limit their opportunities by outrebounding their hosts 31-14 in the second half. Bay College would shoot 14 of 34 in the second half, good for 32.6%. The Hawks would get just 28 attempts and only hit on nine of them in the second half, including going just one of six from behind the three-point arc. The Norse would secure 22 offensive rebounds in the game, creating 17 second chance points. Bay would lead by as many as 30 points down the stretch, and wind up with a 28-point victory.

Head Coach Matt Johnson talked about his team's effort. "Our bench stepped up again and played well. All twelve of our guys scored. Our bench outscored theirs 40-0. Our depth continues to be one of our strengths. It was a great start to the weekend. Now we need to make sure we are ready to play against a very good Milwaukee Area Tech team tomorrow."

Logan Hardwick (FR, Rapid River, MI) would record a double-double on the night. He would end with ten points and grab 16 rebounds. Alfonzo Fields (SO, Milwaukee, WI) would add ten points, while Tyler Willette (SO, Escanaba, MI) would add nine points.

Marshall Davis (FR, Hoffman Estates, IL) would lead all scorers with 14 points while grabbing seven rebounds for the Hawks. James Allen (FR, Hoffman Estates, IL) would end his night with 13 points and eight rebounds, while Brendan Thompson (FR, Hoffman Estates, IL) would score 13 points and collect and collect six rebounds.

Bay College's Saturday afternoon matchup against Milwaukee Area Technical College will start at 3 PM.

The Bay College Norse (7-5) would use smothering defense to blowout the Harper Community College Hawks (0-7) by a final score of 70-19.

The Norse would control the contest from start to finish, and would score 14 points before the Hawks would connect on their first basket. The three-pointer would be their only points of the first quarter, as the Norse would lead 21-3 at that point.

Bay College would open the door for their hosts to get back into the game in the second quarter. They would only connect on 28.6% of their shots and miss on all six three-pointers attempted in the timeframe, but the Hawks were not able to find a rhythm on offense. The Norse would lead 29-8 at intermission.

The offense would click again in the second half for Bay, quickly putting the game out of reach for Harper. The Hawks would struggle to get anything going throughout the evening, shooting just 17% during the matchup and turning the ball over 21 times. Bay College would also gain a heavy advantage rebounding, collecting 49 rebounds as a team, while Harper would only secure 25 of them.

"Our players did a good job staying focused during the game on controlling what we could control," said Head Coach Rob Robinson. "We didn't shoot very well in the second quarter, but we still maintained our effort on defense and I am proud of them for that. It was good for shooters to find their groove in the third and fourth quarter, and that helped us score inside as well."

The Norse would get 14 points and six points from Jordan Kraemer (SO, Norway, MI). Kelsea Ackerman (FR, Munising, MI) would end her evening with 12 points, four rebounds, and three steals, while Taylor Hunter (FR, Gladstone, MI) would score nine points and grab nine rebounds.

Sydney Heinrich (SO, Hoffman Estates, IL) would lead the Hawks with seven points and seven rebounds. Kaela Dunn (SO, Arlington Heights, IL) and Taylor Gunn (SO, Rolling Meadows, IL) would each score five points.

The Norse will take on Milwaukee Area Technical College on Saturday afternoon. That game will tip off at 1 PM.