WARREN, Mich. – Playing one of the more challenging non-conference schedules in NJCAA Division II, Macomb Men's Basketball enters conference play with a 7-8 record after facing seven ranked opponents, including two ranked NJCAA Division I foes.
With non-conference play complete, the Monarchs will begin a new season on Saturday (Jan. 10) when they visit No. 17 Schoolcraft College. Saturday's game marks the beginning of the program's quest for an unprecedented three-peat after winning the conference in back-to-back seasons (2023-24 & 2024-25).
A LOOK AT THE OCELOTS: Schoolcraft enters conference play with an impressive 13-1 record after most recently defeating NJCAA Division I Richard Daley College on Wednesday evening. Their lone defeat came against SUNY Niagara, a 79-69 road setback on Dec. 14.
Schoolcraft is led by sophomore wing J'Vohn Walker (16.1 PPG and 8.0 RPG). Walker earned Honorable Mention All-Eastern Conference and Eastern Conference All-Freshman honors a season ago.
Freshman forward Tyler Robinson is next at 13.3 points per game and pulls down a team-high 8.6 rebounds per contest. Sophomore guard Rael Cochran and freshman guard Amir Perryman round out a balanced cast of Ocelots atop the scoring column with 12.1 and 11.2 points per game, respectively.
The Ocelots impressive turnaround has been led by fourth-year head coach EJ Haralson.
A LOOK AT THE MONARCHS: Still seeking to play at full strength for the first time this season, the Monarchs dropped out of the rankings after going 0-2 at the Skippers New Year's Classic on Jan. 2-3.
Sophomore wing
Malachi Irving—the team's leading scorer at 14.5 points per game—has been sidelined since mid-December and the Monarchs have missed his production the past four-plus games. Redshirt sophomore forward
Lajuan Holloway isn't far behind Irving at 14.1 points per game, while redshirt sophomore guard
Caron Williams nets 13.1 points per game.
Tabari Howard, a sophomore guard, leads the Monarchs on the glass with 7.0 rebounds per night.
As a team, the Monarchs are averaging 74.2 points per game while their opponents are averaging 70.8 points per contest.
LAST SEASON: The Monarchs and Ocelots split the season series in 2024-25 with Macomb earning a 90-73 home victory in the first meeting before Schoolcraft won a defensive battle by a 49-48 final in Livonia. The Ocelots win last February was their first over the Monarchs since January 2020.
LIVE COVERAGE: Schoolcraft will provide live stats and live video coverage for Saturday's contest. Both live coverage links are available on the men's basketball schedule page of MacombMonarchs.com.
UP NEXT: The challenging start to conference play continues next week as the Monarchs travel to Dearborn to take on Henry Ford College on Wednesday (Jan. 14) at 7:30 p.m. The team's 2025-26 home opener—played at Wayne State University's Mattheai Center due to ongoing renovations to the Sports & Expo Center—is Jan. 17 against Mott Community College. Tip-off in Detroit is set for 3 p.m.
