WARREN, Mich. – No. 11 Macomb Men's Basketball made plays down the stretch to stave off Cuyahoga, a team receiving votes in the latest national poll, and hold on for a 68-66 win Friday (Dec. 2) in Warren. The Monarchs, now 8-2 on the season, led by as many as 12 in the second half before the visiting Triceratops (8-2) rallied late in a game that went down to the final buzzer.
Up 37-33 at the half, the Monarchs extended their lead to a dozen midway through the second half (53-41) before a furious Triceratops rally made things interesting late. Despite the visitor's late push, the Monarchs were able to secure the victory with a strong defensive effort and timely free throws down the stretch.
In all, Friday's tight battle between the NJCAA Region XII teams in the national rankings saw the lead change eight times and the score tied on four occasions. The Monarchs' depth played a key factor as the Blue & White's bench outscored the Triceratops' bench by a 34-10 margin.
Tamario Adley (Detroit, Mich./De La Salle) posted another efficient outing with a team-high 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting. The reigning MCCAA Eastern Conference Player of the Week grabbed eight rebounds and added two steals in 31 minutes of work to help lead the Monarchs to the hard-fought win. Adley was joined in double figures by
Cameron McEvans (Southfield, Mich./Southfield A&T) and
Tymias Williams (Macomb, Mich./Dakota) who dropped in 12 points each, as well as
Aidan Rubio (Flint, Mich./Goodrich/DME Academy) who recorded 11 points.
McEvans dished out a game-high four assists, while Rubio added five rebounds and three assists in 23 minutes of action.
Jaylen Daughtery (Oak Park, Mich./Ferndale) came up big throughout the night on his way to hauling in a team-high-tying eight rebounds to go along with six points and two blocks in 20 minutes of game time.
The Monarchs hit the road Wednesday (Dec. 7) to take on Kellogg Community College in non-conference action. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. in Battle Creek.
