DOUBLE OT THRILLER: Norse Top Lakers, 95-90

PORT HURON---The Bay College Norse men’s basketball team bounced back from Friday's 37-point loss to St. Clair County Community College with a thrilling double overtime win over Mid Michigan College Saturday afternoon at the Skippers Holiday Classic in Port Huron.

Matt Wagner sank a step-back three-pointer from the left wing with 30.3 seconds left to give the Norse a 92-90 lead, and then after the Lakers forced a shot at the other end, Wagner got the rebound, got fouled, and calmly made both free throws with 3.7 seconds left to seal the win.

The freshman from Marinette, Wis., was one of four Norse to score in double figures, finishing with 16 points. He also had three steals and two assists, and made all five of his free throws.

The Norse had trailed by five in the second overtime as the Lakers’ Jaylen Rutherford drained a triple with 1:22 left, giving Mid Michigan the 90-85 lead.

Chris Dobessi was fouled on the next trip and made two free throws to cut it to 90-87, then after the Lakers had an empty trip, Ryan Robinette cut to the basket for a driving layup with 30.5 seconds left to close to within 90-89.

The Norse trapped on the inbound play, and Mid-Michigan’s Keegan Brooks rolled his ankle as he tried to break the press. As he lay on the floor, Robinette took the ball, sent a two-bounce pass into the corner for Waginer, who buried the triple to give the Norse the winning margin.

The game featured a familiar face, as former Norse player and Negaunee High School graduate Dre Tuominen suited up in the #14 uniform for Mid-Michigan. He was the Norse Most Valuable Player two years ago, then took a year off from basketball.

Tuominen was his usual sharpshooting-self on Saturday, draining four triples and scoring 15 points. One of his triples gave Mid Michigan a 65-64 lead with 5:55 left in the second half.

Both teams had chances to win the game in regulation, and at the end of the first overtime, but neither could get the winning shot, thus the second overtime session.

The story for Mid Michigan was Rutherford, who torched the Norse for 42 points. He threw up an astounding 34 shots, making 16 of them. He also made seven of nine from the foul line, and he pulled down nine rebounds.

In the end, the Norse had more contributions. Christian Alexander had to sit for more than ten minutes of the second half because he got a foul and a technical foul on the same play with 14:44 to play.

He came back at the end and scored a key basket and foul, tying the game at 77-77.

Alexander ended up with 16 points. Dobessi scored 17 points and added nine rebounds.

Bay College improved to 6-4 on the season while Mid-Michigan fell to 6-3.

The Norse are home next Saturday and Sunday for a holiday tournament against Harper College on Saturday and Milwaukee Tech on Sunday.

Game times are 8:00 Saturday night and 4:00 Sunday afternoon. Both will be broadcast on Maverick 106.3 and www.radioresultsnetwork.com.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and videos, and hear post-game comments from Wagner and Coach Matt Johnson. Also click to hear Wagner's player spotlight interview.