WARREN – Playing shorthanded once again, No. 4 Macomb Men's Basketball ended the first half strong and never looked back in a convincing 95-60 win over Hocking College, a team that entered the night 11-2 on the season and a fellow Great Lakes District Champion and national tournament qualifier from a season ago. The win lifts the fourth-ranked Monarchs to 8-1 on the season. The visiting Hawks fell to 11-3 after the 35-point setback.
The Monarchs closed the first half on a 12-2 run to take a 50-38 lead and all the momentum into the halftime break. In the second half, the Monarchs—playing with only seven active players—picked up where the left off and went on to outscore the Hawks by a 45-22 margin over the final 20 minutes of play to earn the 95-60 victory.
As a team, the Monarchs shot 50.7% from the field overall and an even 50.0% from 3-point range.
Josh Hines (Macomb, Mich./Dakota) paced the 95-point night with 25 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. Hines' 25-point night was just above the redshirt sophomore's season average of 23.7 points per game.
Jalen Jenkins (Belleville, Mich./Belleville) was next as the freshman guard poured in a career-best 17 points while dishing out a career-high six assists and grabbing six rebounds.
Jotham Nweke (Oak Park, Mich./Loyola) equaled Jenkins in the scoring column with 17 points of his own to go along with three assists and three rebounds.
Malachi Irving (Warren, Mich./Fitzgerald) dropped in a career-high 13 points while
DaMaryon Fishburn (Detroit, Mich./Trillium Academy) posted a stat line of 10 points, nine rebounds and four assists.
Caron Williams (Mount Clemens, Mich./L'Anse Creuse) corralled a career-high 12 rebounds to go along with seven points and four assists and
Cameron House (Eudora, Kan./Midland Adventist) closed out the action with six points and five rebounds.
The Monarchs are back on the home hardwood Wednesday (Dec. 18) at 7:30 p.m. when they host the Express of Owens Community College.
