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The moment Makur Reclow drained a 3-pointer 13 seconds into the game, it was already over.
In front of a packed home crowd – including the Tri County High School band, which performed throughout the game – Montcalm Community College Centurions men’s basketball team dominated in its last regular season home game, beating North Central Michigan College 100-52, Saturday, Feb. 21.
Reclow, a sophomore from Louisville, Kentucky, one of six on MCC’s team that was recognized during Sophomore Appreciation Night, finished with 16 points, six steals and four rebounds, helping the Centurions quickly get out to a 21-3 lead. He topped off the scoring run with a steal and fast-break layup with 14:07 to go in the first half.
“Makur is awesome,” Centurions Head Coach Zach Ingles said. “We call him our Swiss Army knife. He’s a little bit of everything, he passes the ball, he handles it, he’s all those things. And I’m super happy for him.”
With the win over the Timberwolves (2-11 MCCAA North, 3-19 overall), the Centurions (8-5 MCCAA North, 15-12 overall) wiped the bad taste of its buzzer-beating loss to Delta College last Wednesday, and can now focus on its next game, the last of the regular season, at Kirtland Community College (6-6 MCCAA North, 7-17 overall) Tuesday, Feb. 24. The Centurions are eyeing to lock down the third seed in the MCCAA postseason tournament, where they currently stand.
“The Kirtland game will be a big one and we’ll have to see what the scores look like after that so we know where we are seeded,” Ingles said. “We need to win to solidify hosting the first game, and that was our goal for the year. We wanted to make the tournament, host a game and we just want to keep progressing, wait for other scores, and we’ll go from there.”
With the quick start to the game, the Centurions held the lead throughout, never giving NCMC a chance to come back. After halftime, leading 51-32, MCC never lost its momentum and continued dominating on both sides of the court.
MCC busted out for a 20-7 run, which included an alley-oop dunk by Makur, who was set up beautifully by an assist from sophomore Mason Dunn (Big Rapids, Michigan), which made it 68-39 with 15:14 to go in the second half. After rebounding an NCMC miss, Makur scored again, driving to the basket on a nice pass inside from freshman Jahmere Evans (Indianapolis, Indiana).
Reclow said his team was focused on winning this game and getting back on track after the loss to Delta.
“It feels amazing. We talked about winning this one and clinching home court,” Reclow said. “This means a lot to us. I like how we stuck together, energy was there, our families were out here, a great experience all around.”
Vlada Djordjijevic, MCC’s freshman from Vranje, Serbia, capped off the game with a fast-break layup after stealing the ball from an NCMC player, scoring the 100th point with 40 seconds to go. It was the third time this year MCC scored 100 or more points.
Ingles said this game was a needed win, not just for the standings, but for morale, too.
“The last couple days of practice have not been fun for them. We lost a heartbreaker to Delta, it was part of the sport. But we battled,” Ingles said. “So tonight, we got back our intensity and our principles, got out and ran a little bit. We’re just trying to rev up here for postseason play and get better and ready for the tournament.”
The team’s six sophomores were honored with MCC’s women’s basketball team’s sophomores before the game. Sophomores on the men’s team includes Reclow, Mason and Dawson Dunn (Big Rapids, Michigan), Zhian Briggs (Augusta, Georgia), Andrew Badder (Imlay City, Michigan), and Josiah DeMeester (Grandville, Michigan).
Ingles praised his sophomores, describing them as the foundation of the young program, which was restarted last year after a 40-year hiatus.
“We talked a lot about this group being what this program was built on,” he said. “We’re relevant now, which is important, because sometimes we forget this program is less than two years old and this sophomore group has been the building block for us. I told the guys, if we’re building a house, this group laid the foundation.
“I’m going to miss this group,” Ingles continued. “It’s a good group and I’ve enjoyed this group. Most of them are going to have four-year opportunities, which is what we’re here for.”
Dawson Dunn and freshman Javen Medaris (Indianapolis, Indiana) both led the team in scoring with 17 points each. Freshman Trevor Zamarron (Greenville, Michigan) finished with 11 points and five rebounds, while Evans had 10 points. Both Zamarron and Evans came off the bench.
MCC dominated in team statistics, outrebounding the Timberwolves 39-29, and leading in assists (19-10), turnovers (10-24), points off turnovers (37-9), second-chance points (18-4) and points in the paint (46-14). The Centurions’ bench also outscored NCMC’s bench, 50-5.
UP NEXT: The Centurions will finish out their regular season on the road against Kirtland Community College (6-6 MCCAA North, 7-17 overall) Tuesday, Feb. 24. Game time is 7:30 p.m.
Currently, three teams in the MCCAA North have clinched a playoff spot – Mid Michigan (12-0 in the conference), Bay College (9-3) and MCC. Kirtland (6-6), Delta College (6-7) and Muskegon (5-8) that are fighting for the last two spots with each team having one game left in the regular season.