FLINT – Josh Hines continued his red-hot redshirt sophomore campaign with 25 points on 9-of-11 shooting to lead No. 4 Macomb Men's Basketball to a 100-77 road win at No. 25 Mott on Saturday (Jan. 18). The 23-point road victory lifted the Monarchs to 16-1 overall and 3-0 in the MCCAA East.
With the win, the Monarchs moved their record against Top-25 opponents to 6-0 on the season (nine wins in total over teams who have spent at least one week in the rankings).
Mott's largest lead was one point, coming in the first 30 seconds of the contest, as the Monarchs cruised from the opening tip in the decisive road win. Shooting 56.5% for the game, the Monarchs went up by double digits early and never looked back, leading by 12 at the break and by as many as 29 in the early stages of the second half.
The Monarchs attacked the paint throughout the game and earned a 44-30 points in the paint advantage for their efforts. The concerted effort to attack the paint resulted in 30 attempts from the charity stripe, and the Monarchs made the most of their opportunities at the line by connecting on 24-of-30 attempts compared to a 14-of-19 clip from the stripe for the Bears.
Rebounding was key in the contest as well as the Monarchs out-rebounded the Bears, 47-21, including an 11-3 edge on the offensive glass that led to a 12-0 advantage in second chance points.
Hines led all scorers with 25 points, following up his 32-point effort in Wednesday's ranked win over Henry Ford. The redshirt sophomore guard added eight rebounds to the stat sheet for his latest balanced effort of the season.
Malachi Irving and
Marlon Williams were next in the scoring column with 17 points each. The 17-point afternoon marked a career-high at the collegiate level for Irving, a freshman out of nearby Fitzgerald High School. Williams (8-11 FG) hauled in seven rebounds and Irving (6-10 FG) collected four while recording a pair of blocks as part of his career day on the hardwood.
Jotham Nweke went 4-of-7 from the field for 13 points and added four rebounds, while
DaMaryon Fishburn recorded nine points and eight rebounds and
Davion Guity tallied eight points and grabbed five boards.
Lajuan Holloway was effective all afternoon with seven rebounds, six points and a team-best six assists, while
Caron Williams posted five points, five boards and four assists to round out the leaders.
The Monarchs continue their stretch against ranked competition with a visit to No. 18 St. Clair County Community College on Wednesday (Jan. 22). Tip-off for the game is set for 7:30 p.m. in Port Huron.
