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DIGGING DEEP: Shorthanded Norse Get Road Win
 Click the thumbnails to see photos and videos, and to hear post-game comments from Zavier Hayes, Josh Williams, and Coach Matt Johnson. Also click the AUDIO buttons to hear Mykel Lindsey's player spotlght interview.
 “This is the best I've felt after any game this season,” Norse Coach Matt Johnson said. “Given how many guys we had out, we had some great contributions. Everybody did something to help out. Zavier (Hayes) was really, really good. And he's not the only one. Conor Coduti gave us a big defensive play when we brought him in."
The Norse made ten three-pointers in the game, led by Hayes, who made four of them and finished with 14 points.
“It's a blessing, really,” Hayes said. “God kept me in the right mind. He told me to keep shooting it. My parents, my brothers, my teammates, my coaches, they know I'm a shooter. They all told me to keep my head poised, stay in the game, and just let it fly. To see the ball go in the hoop, it felt great.”
And his triples came at big times. His first helped the Norse to build a 10-3 lead in the first four minutes, a lead that grew to 24-14 when Hayes made his second triple with 7:37 left in the first half. And another of his triples was the dagger down the stretch, giving Bay a 67-51 lead with 6:09 left.
 D'Marco Chelley was a firebug the whole game, leading Norse balanced scoring attack with 17 points. Two of his triples from the volleyball line helped Bay to build (and rebuild) leads, and his dribble drive to the basket was impressive at times, including one finished by a dunk that made it 58-46 with 11:06 left on the clock.
That was part of a huge run by the Norse in the second half, in a game that was tied 34-34 at halftime. The Norse opened the second half by outscoring the Bobcats, 15-7, with Josh Williams nailing a triple to give Bay a 49-41 lead at the 13:44 mark.
“This week in the locker room, and with the team and the coaches, people who like have been wanting more minutes, this is your time to step up,” Williams said. “I think we had a lot of guys do that today.”
Williams was one of them, finishing with eleven points.
“I love when Zay (Hayes) shoots the ball well, it hypes me up,” Williams said. “That's my boy! When he does good, I do good.”
Tre Sanigar had to take on a bigger role with Ryan Sweeney and Nic Williams both out with illnesses, coming through with eleven points, including a pair of triples. And Mykel Lindsey was perhaps the happiest guy of all, as he played against a Bobcat team that he played for last year. Now, Lindsey is a Norse, and he was energetic all night long, making six baskets for 12 points.
 And the sixth Bay player to score in double figures, center Joe Ofori, finished with 14 points, and he did it while battling against the large Bryant & Stratton lineup.
It wasn't all perfect for the Norse, as Daniel Sykes drained four very long triples in the final five minutes of the game, after Bay had held him off the scoreboard entirely in the first half. Sykes brought his team to within nine with his deepest triple of the night with 1:37 left, and after a Bay turnover, he had a chance to cut it to six before his long shot came up short off the front of the rim.
Sykes ended up with 16 points for the Bobacts (7-4 overall), all of them in the second half. Jabi Alberto led the Bobcats with 18 points, and as they lost to a MCCAA North team for the second straight game. Bryant & Stratton lost on a buzzer-beater to Mid Michigan last week in Mount Pleasant.
For the Norse, it was a satisfying bus ride to Chicago after the game.
“That's a very good basketball team,” Johnson said. “They're going to win a lot of games this season. This win was huge.”
Bay, ranked #19 in the NJCAA national poll, improved to 6-2, with the two losses both being nailbiters on the road in Iowa last month.  |
