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DEARBORN, Mich.---The Bay College Norse men's basketball faced the second-ranked team in the country Friday night, the Henry Ford College Hawks, and lost, 96-64, in Dearborn. But the Norse had some exciting moments along the way before defensive letdowns and the Hawks athleticism led to the loss.
Bay led by eight points late in the first half, and trailed by just ten with eight minutes to go in the game. But things fell apart from there and the Norse could not keep up the pace.
“We were sticking to our game plan, we were sharing the ball, and we were playing at our pace,” Norse Coach Mike Cretens said. “Playing inside-out, taking care of it. But the way they play, if we're taking bad shots and turning the ball over, as you saw in the second half, they're just getting run-outs and highlight reels (dunks). We lost discipline.”
Facing the Henry Ford lineup that includes several Division One commits, Bay got off to a rough start, quickly falling behind by eight points, 12-4, after back-to-back slam dunks. And when the Hawks were called for a technical foul while dunking after the second dunk, Jayden Brown missed both foul shots.
But the Norse found their footing, going on a 10-0 run to take a 14-12 lead, capped by a pair of free throws from Kyle Hustrulid. But Henry Ford responded with a 9-2 spurt, and the Norse were behind again, 21-16. The Norse scored the next eight points, six of them on back-to-back triples by Damonte Duncan, but he was given a 'T' for taunting.
Then Brown got cooking for the Norse, and the Hawks' shooting eent dry. Brown hit back-to-back triples to put Bay up, 33-28, and Kayden Travis got to the rim for a lay-up to make it 35-28 with 4:18 left in the half.
Brown blocked a shot at the other end of the court as well, and then Brown got fouled and made one of two free throws. Incredibly, Bay led, 36-28, with 3:51 left in the half.
But things went bad from there. The Norse did not score the rest of the half, and gave up 14 straight points heading into halftime. Henry Ford led, 42-36 at the break. And there were three more Henry Ford dunks during that run.
The second half was close early on. Bay was down, 53-47, after a Hustrulid triple, but the Hawks' All-American candidate, Drelyn Truesdale, went to the rim for a basket and Wade Robinson came off the bench for a triple. That made it 58-47, but Hustrulid answered at the other end with another triple to make it 58-50.
Travis got a steal at the other end, and the Norse had a chance to get closer, but a possession that included three missed shots kept them behind. Another Travis steal gave the Norse the ball, and that led to a lay-up by Emerson Droubie, making it 62-52.
Truesdale got another dunk at one end, and Duncan answered with a layup at the other end, so Bay was within 64-54 with 11:52 left in the second half.
Bay College was still in the game, down, 72-60, with 7:58 left to play.
Things went bad for the Norse from there. They could not score, and the Hawks could not miss, with multiple slam dunks, drives to the basket, and two more triples from Robinson. They outscored the Norse, 24-4, in those final eight minutes, to post a 32-point win that does not tell the full story of this game.
The Hawks had 14 slam dunks in the game, and the Norse seemed to run out of gas.
“We got up eight, we felt good about ourselves,” Cretens said. “I don't know if we got tired or if we thought we were better than we were. We played with these guys for a half. We didn't give them much fight in the second half, but we did in the first half. Maybe we will get another chance at these guys (in the post-season).”
The Norse made just 5 of 16 free throw attempts, and made 11 of 46 three-point attempts. In all, Bay shot 29 percent from the floor (24 of 81). HFC shot 51-percent.
Brown led the Norse (2-1) with 17 points. Hustrulid and Duncan both scored 12 points, and Droubie contributed ten. Henry Ford (2-1) got 23 points from Xavier Johnson and 22 points from Truesdale. Truesdale also had a game-high ten rebounds.
“I think we were scared, we were nervous,” Cretens said. “This is the first big college game for a lot of these guys. We did not shoot it well, and I think it was the nerves. Just not ready for it, which is understandable. It's early in the season. It's why we want to play these games, so they can see what it's like to play in a big game, and how sustained energy and effort and staying disciplined in a 40-minute game when it's a high-level team. You've got to do it, or it's gonna explode real quick like it did tonight.”
