By Austen Burks, Sports Editor.
The men’s basketball team suffered their second loss of the season with a final score of 84-64 as they faced off against the Grand Rapids Raiders Wednesday Nov. 12.
Aggressive defense kept the Pioneers alive in the first half as turnovers mounted for the Raiders and bad shot selection affected both teams. Rebounds from center Chris Chrzan and guard Julian Henderson helped Delta hold a two-point lead with eleven minutes remaining in the half.
“From the start we kept pressure on the ball, making them uncomfortable causing them to take bad shots,” said 21-year-old Benjamin Batts. Turnovers continued to accumulate in the Pioneers favor as they built their lead.
After a timeout, Coach Blackbourn adjusted the offense to work around their shooting slump and work the ball down low for points under the basket. The Pioneers lead 27-24 at half-time.
“I was off mentally in the first half,” said Batts. “But as a team we felt good about our defense but weren’t effective on offense. The game plan was set for the second half.”
“We needed to execute offense coming out of the half” said Batts. “Attacking the basket, keeping our defense strong and working off our strength which is shooting the three.” Batts sank two consecutive threes early in the second half after the Raiders took the lead from the Pioneers.
Raiders Calvin Ward and DeMarkus Stuckey both had 22-points in the second half and the Pioneers didn’t have an answer for the Raiders shooters. Pioneers keeping the game close in the second half, when Stuckey hit a three to put the Raiders ahead 45-38.
Point Guard Markel Bradshaw directed the offense, creating holes in the Raiders defense allowing his teammates to breakthrough. The Pioneers were able bring the game to within one point. But a shooting slump continued to plague the Pioneers, as the Raiders started making baskets almost automatically.
“As they started pulling away towards the end of the game, coach told us to play hard till the buzzer went off,” said Batts. “He motivated us to keep fighting till the end”.
The men’s basketball team sits at a 2-2 record early in the season with wins against Rochester College and Mid-Michigan Community College. The men face off against Columbus State Community College Dec. 7 at 3 p.m. after the women in Delta’s gymnasium.
