Feb. 21, 2022, GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Grand Rapids Community College's men and women's basketball team's survived games on Monday to complete the season sweep over Lake Michigan College. The women won 47-42, and the men were 77-75 winners.
The greatest attribute of David Glazier's women's basketball team has been its defense, and team held Lake Michigan to just 20.6% from the field.
"I thought we followed up what might have been our worst half of basketball with our most inspired," Glazier said. "This group has an innate ability to find a way. Proud of their fight and the way they finished."
GRCC leads the 21-team Michigan Community College Athletic Association conference, holding opponents’ field goal percentage to just 31.3.
GRCC started slowly, trailing 14-6 after the first quarter. But the team bounced back by out-scoring LMC 41-28 for the remainder of the game.
Freshman point guard Marlene Bussler led all scorers with 14 points. Grace Lodes had nine points and 12 rebounds. Allison Kellogg contributed with 11 points and a career-high 16 rebounds off the bench.
GRCC improved to 17-9 overall and is in second place in the conference with a 13-3 record. The Red Hawks dropped to 18-8, and 12-5 in the conference. The win also guaranteed the Raiders a first-round home game in next week's District Tournament.
LMC's men's team jumped out to an eight-point lead, but the Raiders grabbed their first lead at 16-15 and wound up with a 45-34 advantage at the half.
Although the visitors didn't regain the lead in the second half, they did make it a one-point game on six occasions. With the score tied at 75, sophomore Ryel Daye hit a tough layup with four seconds remaining. After an LMC timeout, the Raiders’ Brockton Kohler deflected the pass on the inbound to secure the win.
Daye finished with a game-high 21 points and team-high 14 rebounds.
Drew Moore, the team's leading scorer, scored 20 points and grabbed 5 rebounds. Kohler had a solid 17-point, eight-rebound performance.
“I am really pleased that we brought home a win on sophomore night,” Coach Joe Fox said. “Couldn’t script a better home finale for Ryel and Andrew after how much they’ve given the program. Our two leading scorers all year really brought it tonight, hitting big shot after big shot, including the game winner for Ryel. It’s been a season of ups and downs, and it was great to close out our last home game on a high note.”
The men's team improved to 10-18 overall, 5-12 in the conference. LMC fell to 10-15 and 8-8.
Both teams will be on the road Feb. 23 at Ancilla College. It will likely be the final game of the season for the men’s team. The women still have a chance to win the conference championship should they win their final two games and Jackson College loses on Wednesday.