ALPENA, Mich. – No. 6 Macomb Men's Basketball got back on track with a 77-52 road victory over the Alpena Community College Lumberjacks Wednesday (Feb. 9). The win elevates the Monarchs to 19-2 overall and 9-1 in the MCCAA Eastern Conference, giving the Blue & White a two-game lead over Delta in the league standings.
The host Lumberjacks battled tough throughout before falling to 2-18 overall and 0-10 in the MCCAA East.
Playing once again without starting point guard
Elijah Belle (Detroit, Mich./Davenport) and key reserve
Tom McNelis (Fraser, Mich./Fraser), the Monarchs got off to a slow start before pulling away from the Lumberjacks to earn the 25-point victory.
The Monarchs began to heat up late in the first half and took a 35-25 lead into the halftime break.
Jaylen Daughtery (Detroit, Mich./Mott) corralled 10 rebounds before entering the locker room at the half, while
John Ukomadu (Bloomfield, Mich./Vincennes) paced the scoring effort with 11 points on a pair of triples.
Second half action saw the Monarchs fend off the Lumberjacks and later cruise to the league win behind big nights from Daughtery and Ukomadu and a balanced team effort overall.
Daughtery ended the night with a career-high 20 rebounds, eclipsing his previous best of 16 boards set earlier this season. The second-year freshman forward added 14 points to grow his double-double count to five (three in conference play). Ukomadu continued his hot shooting from deep with three more triples as part of a 25-point contest. The sophomore forward added eight rebounds and three assists in the winning effort.
Delano Williams (Mt. Clemens, Mich./Mt. Clemens) dropped in four 3-pointers to tally 16 points and
Tariq Humes (Farmington, Mich./Elevation Prep) chimed in with 13 points and six assists to help the Monarchs secure their 19th win in 21 games this season.
Dante Hudgins (Warren, Mich./Lincoln) played extended minutes and pulled down five rebounds, while Shawn Brown (Oak Park, Mich./Oak Park) recorded three boards of his own. Jiovanni Miles (Novi, Mich./Wisconsin-Green Bay) posted a balanced eight rebounds, six points, four assists and two steals.
The sixth-ranked Monarchs return home to host the OCC Raiders Saturday at 3:00 p.m. The women's basketball game will tip-off first at 1:00 p.m. Both games will be streamed live on www.MacombMonarchs.com/Watch.
