WARREN, Mich. – No. 8 Macomb Men's Basketball kept their cushion atop a difficult MCCAA East with an 84-65 victory over the No. 18 Mott Community College Bears Wednesday (Feb. 16) in Warren. The win lifts the Monarchs to 20-3 overall and 10-2 in the MCCAA East under first-year head coach Hassan Nizam. With the 19-point loss, the 18th ranked Bears fall to 18-8 overall and 7-7 in league play.
The Monarchs end the night in first place in the Eastern Conference at 10-2. No. 19 Henry Ford checks in next at 10-4, while No. 16 SC4 sits at 9-5.
Wednesday's wire-to-wire win also avenged an 81-78 loss at Mott earlier this season.
The Monarchs raced out to a 9-0 lead and never looked back en route to taking a 41-33 lead at the halftime break. The Monarchs shot 55.2% from the floor in the opening half and held the Bears to 35.9% shooting to take an eight-point lead into the locker room. Balance was key in the opening half as six Monarchs tallied five or more points over the game's opening 20 minutes of play.
Second half action saw the Monarchs extend their lead to as many as 20 points with four minutes remaining as the Blue & White cruised to the 19-point league win.
For the game, the Monarchs shot a blistering 56.9% from the field overall and 41.2% from behind the long line. The Monarchs' defense clamped down to hold the Bears to 36.1% shooting in Wednesday's critical league win.
Tariq Humes (Farmington, Mich./Elevation Prep) paced five in double figures with 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting (4 3PM). The freshman guard added three rebounds and three steals in 38 minutes of work Wednesday evening. Elijah Belle (Detroit, Mich./Davenport) continued to round into form after a recent injury and went on to tally 16 points and a game-high seven assists. John Ukomadu (Bloomfield, Mich./Vincennes) recorded 14 points, five rebounds and four game-changing blocks, while Jiovanni Miles (Novi, Mich./Wisconsin-Green Bay) and Jaylen Daughtery (Detroit, Mich./Mott CC) followed with 11 points and 10 points, respectively.
Daughtery accompanied his 10-point night with a game-high 13 rebounds and Miles followed with eight rebounds as the pair led a team effort on the glass.
Dante Hudgins (Warren, Mich./Lincoln) chipped in with eight points in nine minutes, while Delano Williams (Mt. Clemens, Mich./Mt. Clemens) five points, four rebounds and three assists in the winning effort.
