PIONEERS DROP REGULAR SEASON FINALE TO MACOMB

University Center, MI -  

Wednesday night, the Delta College men's basketball team hosted the 11^th ranked Macomb Monarchs.  It was the last regular season game for both teams and while Macomb had the 2^nd seed wrapped up in the MCCAA East, the Pioneers were fighting to get the 5^th seed.  With a win and an Oakland loss, the Pioneers would move up from the 6^th seed.  The home team put up a valiant effort but couldn't overcome a rough stretch in the first half and lost 58-49.                        

The Monarchs came out hitting on all cylinders, knocking down three out of their first five three pointers and they held 13-7 lead at the 13:46 mark of the first half.  An Allante Wheeler jumper cut the Monarch lead to 15-12 with 9:30 left.  Following a Devin Smith lay-up and a Virgil Walker jump shot, the Pioneers still trailed by seven with less than three minutes left in the first half.  The Monarchs finished the half with a flurry and outscored the Pioneers 14-1 and took a commanding 40-20 lead into the locker room.  In the first half, the Pioneers were only 6-26 (23%) from the field and 1-7 (14%) from behind the arc.  The Monarchs had much more success on the offensive end and were 15-31 (48%) from the field and 7-14 (50%) from behind the three point line.                 

"We got the shots we wanted in the first half but they just weren't falling," said head coach Carlos McMath.  "Macomb made some tough shots but we also lost some of our assignments and they made us pay.  We didn't execute the last two and a half minutes on either end of the court and Macomb is too good of a team to have those mental lapses."

The Monarchs scored the first four points of the second half and expanded their lead to the largest of the night 44-20.  Back to back three pointers by Jonathan Swift and Torion Wilson swung the momentum back in the favor of the Pioneers.  A steal and lay-up by Swift cut the margin down to 15 with twelve minutes left.  A three pointer by Andrew Miller and a Jovon Thomason three pointer made the score 48-39 with 7:15 left in the game.  A three point play by Trey Newsham and another Jovon Thomason three pointer cut the Monarch lead to 53-49 with just over two minutes to play.  The Pioneers would fail to score again and Macomb knocked down several key shots to secure the victory.         

"We put up a great fight in the second half," said McMath.  "We did a better job at executing and played the way we are capable of.  The problem was that we dug ourselves into such a huge hole that we had to expend so much energy to get back in the game and we just ran out of gas the last two minutes."        

The Pioneers were led by Jonathan Swift's 11 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists.  Jovon Thomason had 9 points and Torion Wilson added 8 points and 5 rebounds.            

The Delta Men's basketball team (11-13, 7-9) will begin tournament play as the 6^th seed Tuesday night when they travel to the 3^rd seed Mott Community College (23-6, 12-4).  Game time is set for 7:30 pm at Ballenger Fieldhouse on the campus of Mott Community College.