LIVONIA, Mich. – Tariq Humes had 27 at the break as Macomb Men's Basketball turned a commanding 65-29 halftime lead into a 108-71 victory over the host Schoolcraft Ocelots Saturday (Feb. 19) in Livonia. Humes (Farmington, Mich./Elevation Prep), who had seven 3-pointers at the half and nearly outscored the Ocelots on his own in the opening 20 minutes, ended the day with a game-high 33 points to lift the Monarchs to 21-3 overall and 11-2 atop the MCCAA East.
The Ocelots fell to 6-17 on the season and 3-10 in the MCCAA East with the 37-point setback. With Saturday's win, the Monarchs swept the season series with Schoolcraft, outscoring the Ocelots by a combined 213-140 and winning by an average of 36.5 points per game.
Saturday's league contest was never in doubt as Humes and Co. were red-hot from the opening jump and raced out to a 28-4 lead and never looked back in the decisive victory.
In the first half, Humes connected on the first seven 3-pointers he attempted and finished the half 7-of-9 from behind the long line. While Humes was the hot hand, he wasn't the only Monarch to catch fire from deep as Jiovanni Miles (Novi, Mich./Wisconsin-Green Bay) and Delano Williams (Mt. Clemens, Mich./Mt. Clemens) netted two triples each as part of a 70.6% shooting effort from 3-point territory in the opening half.
The Monarchs continued their torrid pace in the latter half to shoot 69% from the floor and 59.1% from deep for the game. In the second half, the Monarchs would extend their lead to as many as 48 points before ending the day with the 37-point road triumph.
Humes paced all scorers with 33 points on 9-of-12 shooting overall (7-of-9 3PM). The freshman guard – who recently was offered by HBCU Florida Memorial, also added four rebounds and three assists in 31 minutes of action. Five other Monarchs followed in double figures scoring, led by three with 14 points: Jiovanni Miles, Delano Williams and John Ukomadu (Bloomfield, Mich./Vincennes). In addition to their 14-point effort, Miles dished out a game-high seven assists, while Williams added four rebounds and Ukomadu swatted three shots.
Elijah Belle (Detroit, Mich./Davenport) posted a balanced stat line of 12 points and six assists and Jaylen Daughtery (Detroit, Mich./Mott CC) closed out six in double digits with 11 points to accompany a team-high eight rebounds. Dante Hudgins (Warren, Mich./Lincoln) tallied seven points on 3-of-5 shooting, while Shawn Brown (Oak Park, Mich./Oak Park) recorded four rebounds and three points, two of which came on an emphatic second half dunk.
