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With as many players as the Montcalm Community College Centurions men’s basketball team has, one never knows who might step up to take a game over. 

On Saturday, Jan. 31, it was freshman forward Joel Washington’s turn. He scored a game-high 18 points, leading the team to a 74-54 road win over the North Central Michigan College Timberwolves. 

More impressively, the Gainesville, Florida native did so while coming off the bench. In fact, even more impressive, perhaps, is the fact the Centurions’ bench made up 47 of the team’s 74 points in the win. 

“What that says about our team is that anyone can go any given night,” said sophomore point guard Zhian Briggs (Augusta, Ga.). “When we need them, having a bench that can bring that much fire power to the game makes a very big difference, especially down this last stretch.” 

Freshman Jahmere Evans (Indianapolis, Ind.), who has led the team in scoring twice this season, scored eight points off the bench, as well. Fourteen of the 16 players on the roster scored, providing MCC with a balanced attack, from the starters to the bench players.  

“We have a really deep squad,” Centurions assistant coach Asher Vissman said. “We’ve known this since day one, and credit to head coach Zach Ingles for managing all the talent we have and using everyone in strategic roles.” 

Vissman praised Washington for his ability to score in this game against the Timberwolves (2-5 MCCAA North, 3-16 overall), as he has been waiting for him to bust out. 

“Joel has been building towards a big shooting night. He’s so talented,” Vissman said. “This wasn’t a surprise to us. He’s really settled in and has become an X factor.” 

The win was the Centurions’ fifth consecutive, which is the longest winning streak the program has had since the community college revitalized its athletics program two years ago. MCC has won seven of its last eight games, which its only loss in that stretch was to Mid Michigan College, a 91-78 home loss, Jan. 14. 

“The winning streak is meaningful, for sure,” Vissman said. “Everyone has worked extremely hard and that’s the type of result we expect.” 

The Centurions have a rematch with the Lakers (7-0 MCCAA North, 17-4 overall) in Mount Pleasant, Wednesday, Feb. 4, before hosting third-place Bay College (4-3 MCCAA North, 15-6 overall) on Saturday, Feb. 7.   

The next two games for the Centurions will most assuredly be the most important of the season with MCC eyeing its first conference championship. 

“We are right in the hunt for a conference championship,” Vissman said. “That’s the goal and we’re just taking it one game at a time. The keys against Mid are keeping the game at our pace. It’s the two best teams in the conference. This should be a good one.” 

Briggs believes if his team just continues to do what it did against NMC, securing wins in the next two games is very possible. 

“The biggest factor in winning this game was just getting off the bus, as coach Ingles would say,” said Briggs, who finished with seven points, five rebounds and four assists. “We need to still be hungry for the next competition, not taking anyone lightly, playing together as one and, most of all, executing the game plan.” 

Against the Timberwolves, the Centurions led throughout the game. Washington helped MCC establish a 10-point lead early in the game, hitting a 3-pointer at the 12:01 mark to make it 19-9. NMC pulled within five points and hovered around for the rest of the half, but MCC went into halftime with a 35-28 lead. 

The Centurions’ offense would stay hot in the second half as Sebastian Kamalzadeh (West Palm Beach, Fla.) buried a 3-pointer just 25 seconds into play, making it 38-28 MCC. NMC was never able to get any closer.  

The Centurions pushed their lead to 25 after sophomore Makur Reclow (Louisville, Kentucky) dunked a shot to give MCC a 71-46 lead with 3:31 to go in the game. From that point, MCC’s reserves began checking in. 

The Centurions’ bench outscored the Timberwolves’ 47-37 and also led in points off turnovers (10-8) and rebounds (44-34), which Vissman said was a key factor in the win against NMC. 

“We’ve been emphasizing rebounding. It’s just such an important aspect of the game, naturally it tips the scales in a lot of games,” Vissman said. 

MCC also shot 75% from the free throw line (15-of-20) and shot 40.6% from the 3-point line (13-of-32).  

UP NEXT: Game time at the Feb. 4 game at Mid Michigan is 7:30 p.m. Then on Saturday, Feb. 7, against Bay College, tip-off is 3 p.m.