WARREN, Mich. – Conference play rolls on for Macomb Men's Basketball with a pair of games. First up, the Monarchs will travel to Henry Ford College for a 7:30 p.m. contest Wednesday (Jan. 14). The week ends with a home game, played at Wayne State University's Mathaei Center, against Mott Community College on Saturday (Jan. 17) at 3 p.m.
 
The Monarchs check in at 7-9 overall and 0-1 in MCCAA Eastern Conference action after falling 76-64 at No. 17 Schoolcraft College on Saturday. 
 
SCOUTING HENRY FORD: Henry Ford opened conference play with a close 78-73 victory at Wayne County Community College District on Saturday. The Hawks enter the week sporting an 8-4 overall record (1-0 MCCAA East) and are receiving votes in the NJCAA Division II Rankings. 
 
No shortage of talent, the Hawks are led in the scoring column by freshman Jayce Branson who averages a team-high 18.7 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Another Hawk to watch is freshman Wade Robinson, who is posting 14.3 points per contest. 
 
Sophomore Shemarion Hardy, the reigning MCCAA Eastern Conference Player of the Week, is back for the Hawks after earning Second Team All-Conference and Eastern Conference All-Freshman honors in 2024-25. Hardy is averaging 13.8 points per night. 
 
Henry Ford is led by head coach Chris Shepard in his ninth season at the helm.
 
SCOUTING MOTT: Mott enters this week with a 7-7 overall record, most recently falling 100-70 at Lansing Community College last Wednesday. The Bears are set to host 17th-ranked Schoolcraft this Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. 
 
A bulk of the Bears' offense comes courtesy of sophomores Tyler Wooten (19.9 PPG) and Mike Phillips (18.0 PPG). Phillips also averages a team-high 4.6 assists per game, while Davan Aniton leads the team on the glass with 6.3 rebounds per contest. 
 
As a freshman, Phillips earned Honorable Mention All-Western Conference playing for Glen Oaks Community College last season. 
 
The Bears are led by longtime head coach Steve Schmidt.
 
A LOOK AT MACOMB: As a team, the Monarchs are averaging 73.6 points per game while shooting 45.0% from the field and 30.1% from three-point land. Macomb ranks ninth in the region and eighth in the MCCAA with 40.3 rebounds per night. 
 
Four Monarchs average double-digit figures in scoring led by Malachi Irving with 14.3 points per game. Lajuan Holloway is averaging 13.4 points per night, while Caron Williams has netted 12.6 per game. The final double-digit scorer for Macomb is Donald Wilburn with 11.5 points per game. 
 
Tabari Howard leads the team in rebounding with 6.6 per contest, while Irving isn't far behind with 6.5 boards per game. 
 
Holloway is dishing out a team-best 3.5 assists per game.
 
LAST SEASON: Macomb split the season series with Henry Ford and swept Mott in 2024-25. 
 
Against the Hawks, the Monarchs earned a 71-69 victory in the first meeting before falling 79-73 in the second affair. 
 
Macomb won both games over the Bears by double digits, defeating Mott 100-77 in Flint and 91-66 in Warren. The Bears last win over the Monarchs was an 81-76 decision back on Feb. 15, 2023. The Monarchs have won the last four meetings with Mott since the 2023 setback. 
 
The Monarchs have won three of the last four against the Hawks with the loss coming in the most recent meeting in Dearborn last season. Dating back to 2020, the Hawks hold a narrow 7-6 edge in the series over the Monarchs.
 
LIVE COVERAGE: Henry Ford will provide live video coverage of Wednesday's matchup here. Saturday's home game (at Wayne State's Mathaei Center) will include a live video broadcast with Tom Cavanaugh on the call. Live stats will also be available for Saturday's conference tilt here.
 
HOME GAME INFO: All Macomb Basketball home conference games this season will be played at Wayne State's Mathaei Center due to ongoing renovations to the Macomb Sports & Expo Center. Admission is $5.00 (cash or card). Wayne State charges for parking (cost is approximately $10.00).

UP NEXT: Following this week's action, Macomb will remain at their temporary home in Detroit and host a pair of MCCAA Eastern Conference games. The Monarchs take on St. Clair County Community College at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday (Jan. 21) night. They'll wrap up a three-game homestand against No. 16 Oakland Community College on Saturday (Jan. 24) at 3 p.m. from the Wayne State University Matthaei Center.