PORT HURON – No. 4 Macomb Men's Basketball earned its 11^th win of the season with a hard-fought 70-60 decision of the perennial power and always well-coached No. 13 Bulldogs of South Suburban College. The win tipped off day one of two against ranked competition at the SC4 Skippers New Year's Classic.
 
The fourth-ranked Monarchs battle the No. 10 Kalamazoo Valley Community College Cougars Saturday at 1 p.m. to close out their time in Port Huron.
 
A stingy defensive effort by both teams led to one of the lowest-scoring halves of the season for the Monarchs as the Blue & White trailed the 13^th ranked Bulldogs by three at the break, 33-30. Second half action saw the Monarchs hit their stride, outscoring the Bulldogs by a 40-27 margin to earn the 70-60 win. Key Stat: With shots not falling at their normal clip, the Monarchs attacked the basket and earned a 46-30 advantage in points in the paint.
 
Josh Hines (Macomb, Mich./Dakota), ninth in scoring nationally at 24.4 points per game, checked in with a team-high 19 points and added six rebounds and was followed by Jotham Nweke (Oak Park, Mich./Loyola) who recorded a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. DaMaryon Fishburn (Detroit, Mich./Trillium) was efficient once again, posting 14 points and seven rebounds to round out the double-digit scorers for the Monarchs.
 
Jalen Jenkins (Belleville, Mich./Belleville) followed the double-digit scorers with eight points and hauled in seven rebounds for the latest balanced effort of his freshman campaign.