Pioneers Upset #15 Mott; Ending a 22 Year Drought

University Center, Michigan--- It has been over 22 years since Delta Men's Basketball team beat Mott Community College, but that all changed due a 59-55 win Saturday at Mott. 

The game started off as an defensive struggle from the opening tip until the Pioneers scored a 3 point basket by Jaylen Randle 7 points and 5 rebounds,(Flint Carman-Ainsworth/Flint, MI). There were some back and forth scoring with some tough shots being made by both teams but on consecutive plays there were big blocks by Travon Cotton (Heritage/Saginaw,MI)  who finished the game with 6 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks. The game was filled with passion for both teams. 

"We went into half with a sense of frustration due to our turnovers, but we were overall happy with the energy and intensity we distributed on the defensive end." coach McMath said.  Sharp shooting Davian Phillips (Kalamazoo Loy Norrix/Kalamazoo,MI) 11 points, that included 3 for 4 from three point line contributed to the half time lead. 

The Second half began and you can tell both teams were tired of each other and a hard foul was given and the talking began again between both teams.  Mott was determined to get the ball inside to their dominate bigs in LaVert and Bigham to take control of the paint as well as the game.  The strong play of Cotton, Chris Chrzan (Ida/Monroe, MI), and Julian Henderson 18 points, 9 rebounds and 5 steals (Saginaw/Saginaw,MI) all contributed in helping with the paint defense.  Mott took the lead on a corner three pointer after being down by as many as 8 points in the second half. 

In the closing moments of the game with the score tied at 55 the Pioneers found themselves in a similar position as they were in against St. Clare CCC.  Markell Bradshaw (Saginaw/Saginaw,MI)  took the game winning jump shot and on this night the outcome was not any different.  Bradshaw with the shot clock down to 5 and game clock at 22 seconds he hit a step back three pointer to give the Pioneers a 58-55 lead.  After a Mott miss and Julian Henderson split of free throws the game ended with a roar from the Pioneer Women's team who had their own dramatic win the game before.  Bradshaw finished the night with 17 points, 5 rebounds, 5 steals and 5 assist. 

The Pioneers came into the game with added motivation in the absences of assistant coach Chuck Lord who has been with basketball program in varies capacity for over 40 years.  Coach Lord who was home sick, was extremely intense during this week of practice and the players knew how much he wanted to be there with them but was unable.   

"The intensity that we showed for 40 minutes was a championship style of effort. Everyone really gets up for Mott and it was nice to play hard and make enough plays to get the win. The challenge will be to keep making progress and moving forward. We have some more work to do." Added coach Blackbourn on the win.

The Pioneers do not have a chance to feel good as they host #8 Schoolcraft College on Monday January 26^th, 2015 at 7:30.