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ESCANABA---The Bay College Norse men's basketball team cruised to a 97-75 win over the Delta College Pioneers in the next-to-last game of the regular season on Saturady in Escanaba. Five players scored in double figures as the Norse won their sixth straight game on a day where they welcomed back their alumni on Alumi Day.
 

“I thought we were real good in spurts,” Norse Coach Matt Johnson said. “I thought that we started well, and there were a couple of other times where we were really good. But then we got complacent, we start making uncharacteristic errors, take some rushed shots, and are a little bit slow on our rotation or our close-out. Bad shots are just as detrimental as a turnover. It's a wasted possession. And we took multiple of those.”
 

Bay jumped to a 25-10 first half lead after a Joe Ofori lay-up, and a Parker Fahning slam dunk expanded the lead to 35-16 with just under seven minutes left in the first half.
 

“It felt real good,” Fahning said. “Probably one of my better games, that's for sure. I still felt the knee pain, especially after that dunk. But I'll just ice it up and get ready for Tuesday. We definitely have to take care of business on Tuesday.”
 

The Pioneers, however, didn't fold. They chipped away at the Bay lead and went on a 17-4 run to reduce the Bay lead to 39-33 when Evan Booker got a steal and London Williams cashed in with a lay-up. Bay led, 43-33, at halftime.
 

“First half, we kind of got sloppy towards the end,” Fahning said. “A lot of quick shots. A lot of them on me. Turned it over, too. A lot of it was just shot selection, and just holding someone (defensively) for a whole 40 minutes.”
 

The Norse gradually built on its lead in the second half, taking its biggest lead at 77-54 after a Fahning three-point basket and a Ryan Sweeney jumper.

Bay cruised from there to improve to 21-5 on the season, 11-2 in MCCAA conference play. The win clinched second place in the standings, and will host a playoff game on March 4.
 

Joe Ofori had a double-double of 14 points and eleven rebounds to lead the Norse. Fahning added 15 points and four rebounds, and Kai'Ree Gadson chipped in 13 points, three rebounds, and three assists. Sweeney had 18 points, six rebounds, four assists, and three steals. And Nic Williams also contributed 18 points.
 

“We were sharing the ball in the second half,” Sweeney said. “Coach said we weren't getting many shots with 15 under the shot clock, and that means you're just putting up a quick shot., and probably not the best shot. So, in the second half, we were getting drives, hitting gaps, kicking out, Nic Was hitting shots, Joe was being aggressive. I liked it.”
 

Delta College (10-16 overall, 5-8 MCCAA) got 26 points from Booker behind a great second half. He also had five steals, four rebounds, and two assists.
 

It's quite likely that these two teams will meet again on March 4 in the NJCAA Regional tournament in Escanaba. Delta plays at Alpena Tuesday night.
 

The Norse, with their past players on campus for Alumni Day, raised their MCCAA North Conference championship banners from last year, both the men and the women, who each lost just one conference game in 2023-24.
 

“It's kind of cool to see three banners up there, and we've only been in the league for two years,” Johnson said.
 

Bay (20-5 overall, 11-2 MCCAA) will host first-place Mid-Michigan Tuesday. The Norse are locked in to second spot in the conference standings. Tuesday's game starts at 7:30 and will be broadcast live on FM-106.3 and on-line at www.baynorse.com.