WARREN, Mich. – The nation's eighth-ranked team won their 18th game of the season and their 12th in a row with a hard-fought 77-72 victory over Wayne County Community College Saturday (Feb. 5) in Warren. The Monarchs, now 18-1 overall, remained perfect at 8-0 in an extremely difficult MCCAA Eastern Conference with the five-point victory.
The visiting Wildcats fell to 9-9 overall and 4-5 in the MCCAA East after the narrow setback.
After a tight battle throughout the early stages of the contest, the Monarchs closed out opening frame strong with an 11-2 run over the final five minutes of the first half to take a 35-30 lead into the break. Delano Williams (Mt. Clemens, Mich./Mt. Clemens) led the charge in the latter stages of the opening half on his way to 12 first half points. The sophomore drained all four of his 3-point attempts for the 12-point half.
The five-point halftime edge didn't last for long as the Wildcats scored the first 10 of the second half to quickly take a 40-35 lead. The Monarchs countered with a run of their own that was anchored by a momentum-changing dunk by sophomore forward John Ukomadu (Bloomfield, Mich./Vincennes) and two more triples off the hot hand of Williams. Ukomadu's slam and Williams' continued hot shooting pushed the Monarchs in front, 53-49, forcing a Wildcat timeout. From there, the Monarchs led by as many as 12 (71-59) before the Wildcats raced back to make Saturday's game go down to the final possession. In the end, Jiovanni Miles (Novi, Mich./Wisconsin-Green Bay) connected on 5-of-6 free throws in the final 11 seconds of play to help secure the five-point victory for the Monarchs.
Williams paced the Monarchs with a season-high 19 points, two shy of his career-high of 21 points posted last season at Alpena Community College. In all, Williams went 6-of-8 from the floor overall and a blistering 6-of-7 from 3-point land in a game where the Monarchs needed every big basket. Miles posted 14 points, four rebounds and three assists, while Elijah Belle (Detroit, Mich./Davenport) recorded his first double-double in a Monarch uniform with 12 points and a career-high 10 assists.
Jaylen Daughtery (Detroit, Mich./Mott) was a force on the boards once again, collecting 13 of his career-high 16 rebounds in the first half alone in Saturday's win. Daughtery added eight points, two blocks and a pair of steals in a well-rounded effort for the Monarchs. Ukomadu checked in with 13 points, doing so on 6-of-9 shooting overall. The sophomore added seven rebounds and two blocks in 23 minutes of action. Tariq Humes (Farmington, Mich./Elevation Prep) tallied nine points, four assists and three rebounds to round out a week where the freshman guard scored 30 points and 27 points, respectively, in wins Monday and Wednesday.
As a team, the Monarchs shot 49.1% overall and 46.4% from downtown.
The Monarchs hit the road Monday (Feb. 7) to take on a dangerous Mott team. Mott, formerly the nation's No. 1 team, enters the game at 15-5 overall and 4-5 in league play.
