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For the first time this season, the Montcalm Community College Centurions men’s basketball team faces a losing streak. 

Centurions head coach Zach Ingles and his team suffered losses in back-to-back games this past weekend, Dec. 12-13, losing to South Suburban College, 95-60, and suffering a 78-76 overtime loss to Oakton Community College, respectively. Both games were played at Grand Rapids Community College. 

The Centurions (6-6 overall) came into the game against South Suburban (10-2 overall) fresh off an overwhelming win against Olivet College’s JV team (84-55, Dec. 6). That momentum carried them through the first half against the Bulldogs, as they went into halftime down only 38-31. The second half, however, was a different tale, as SSB outscored MCC 57-29 to cruise to a 35-point win. 

“We hung with South Suburban for most of the game. I felt confident the game was going down to the wire,” MCC assistant coach Asher Vissman said. “In the second half, they clearly changed their defensive game plan. It worked and they jumped on us.” 

The Centurions were playing without team leader and scoring threat sophomore Taylen Carver (Louisville, Ky.), who is still being evaluated for a lower body injury. Vissman said several players, like Mason Dunn (Big Rapids, Mich.), have stepped up in Carver’s absence, however. 

“Mason has been great for us,” Vissman said. “He does a lot of great things, from scoring to rebounding. The way he runs our offense, it’s really valuable.” 

After three games without Carver, Vissman said the team has been able to identify what needs to be taken care of on the floor. 

“Multiple guys have stepped up,” he said. 

In the second half, the Bulldogs pulled out to a 10-point lead after a three-point shot made by Tanner Fields at the 15:51 mark. Over the next six minutes, SSB built its lead to 20 after Bulldogs’ player Isaiah Green rebounded a Centurions shot and then scored on the ensuing drive to make it 67-47.  

The Bulldogs went on a 13-0 scoring drive as the Centurions were unable to score over a six-minute period. MCC finally broke the drought when Dunn nailed a three-point shot at the 6:36 mark to make it 80-50. 

MCC would suffer another scoring drought, however, as SSC went on an 11-0 run over the next three minutes, putting the game away well before game time expired. 

Dunn led MCC with 15 points and six rebounds, followed by his brother, Dawson Dunn (Big Rapids, Mich.), who finished with 12 points and five rebounds. South Suburban was led by A.J. Abrams, who scored a game-high 23 points, grabbed nine rebounds and had four steals. 

In the overtime loss to the Oakton Owls (7-6 overall), both teams went back and forth throughout the entire game. Mason Dunn had the chance to hit a winning bucket at the buzzer but missed, which led to overtime.  

The Owls managed to go up by four points after Derryl Gaddi and Justin O’Neal hit back-to-back shots, giving them a 76-72 lead with 3:18 to go. 

A few seconds later, MCC sophomore Zhian Briggs (Augusta, Ga.) finally answered back for MCC, hitting a two-point jumper, to make it 76-74, but Oakton’s Evan Ortiz pushed the Owls’ lead back to four a minute later hitting a two-point jumper.  

Briggs came up with another score, hitting a two-point shot to make it 78-76 with 1:01 left, but the Centurions could not bury another shot, even though they had three opportunities, with Dawson Dunn taking the last desperation shot with two seconds left, which missed.  

Vissman said the game could have gone either way for the Centurions, who, at one point, held a 30-19 lead in the first half, the largest lead in the game. 

“Ultimately, it came down to us not getting a couple crucial stops,” Vissman said. “We had a good play drawn up (at the end), we just didn’t make the last shot.” 

Freshman Trevor Zamarron (Greenville, Mich.) had a season-high 20 points for MCC, also getting six rebounds and three assists. Briggs scored 18 points and led the team with nine assists, and Mason Dunn and Dawson Dunn scored 11 and 10 points, respectively, with Mason Dunn getting eight rebounds.  

Vissman was impressed with Zamarron’s game against Oakton. 

“Trevor has an elite skill — shooting,” Vissman said. “He is uber confident and can get hot in a hurry. He came out and scored 15 points right away. It was a great kickstart to the game. 

UP NEXT: The Centurions will be on break for Christmas but will quickly hit the court soon after as they prepare for an important game against Palm Beach State College (16-1), No. 1-ranked team in the NJCAA Division II.  

The Centurions will travel to Fort Worth, Fla., to face off against the Panthers at 7 p.m., Friday, Jan. 2. 

“This is a challenge we have been preparing for by playing a difficult schedule,” Vissman said. “Everyone’s excited for the trip and to play the best competition.” 

Vissman said the tough non-conference schedule gets his team prepared for the rugged fight in the MCCAA Northern Conference, as well. 

“We have goals and playing the best competition gets us ready for the really good teams we have in the North,” he said.