Men's Basketball Wins Two Last Week

The SMC men got back to winning ways with a pair of victories last week.

On Wednesday, the Roadrunners jumped out to an early 18-4 lead over Camp Battleground Preparatory and pushed the score to 42-17 at the half. The Roadrunners then ran off 15 unanswered points to start the second half and cruised to an 83-40 victory over the Tigers. At the defensive end of the floor, SMC forced turnovers and protected the rim to set a school record for the fewest points allowed in a full game.

SMC was led by MCCAA Western Conference Player of the Week freshman Prince Adams with 17 points and 7 rebounds; Adams hit both of his long-range attempts. Sophomore Mari Nichols added 15 and sophomore Nate Goins had 12. Sophomore Mikel Forrest poured in 12 off the bench, also hitting both of his three-point attempts.

Saturday, the Roadrunners travelled to Muskegon and beat the Jayhawks 58-55, winning a nailbiter by shooting 88% from the free throw line, hitting 3 of 4 in the last few seconds to eke out a victory. SMC had a six-point lead at halftime, but the game was knotted at 55 with 5.5 seconds on the clock. After SMC hit the second of a pair from the line, Muskegon drove the length of the court but stepped out of bounds right in front of their own bench and turned the ball over with 1.3 seconds remaining. SMC then inbounded the ball, was fouled, and hit both for their sixth win.

The team was led by Mari Nichols with 14, going a perfect 7-for-7 from the stripe, freshman Aries Hull had a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds, and Adams also earned a double-double with 10 and 12. Forrest added 13 points in the win. 

SMC is now 6-3 and hosts Grace College JV at 7:30pm on Thursday, December 7.