The Schoolcraft Ocelots men’s basketball team hosted Community Christian in their final non-conference game.
The first half saw an evenly played game. Both teams were trading mini runs that would keep it close. 8 minutes into the first half, Community Christian would knock down a 3 pointer to push their lead to 10. Daniel Lee would knock down a mid-range jumper on the ensuing possession and after that, Community Christian would never reach a double-digit lead again. Schoolcraft had an opportunity to cut the Community Christian lead to 1 going into the half but a running, off-balance, 3 pointer from Amare Stevens rimmed out and Schoolcraft would trail by 4 (47-43) going into the locker room. Ashton Henderson would lead the offensive unit for the Ocelots registering 16 points on 5/8 from the field and account for 3 out of the 8 first half steals on the defensive end for Schoolcraft. Daniel Lee would also put up 13 points by going 6/14 from the field.
Defense would be a key coming out of the room for Schoolcraft. If Schoolcraft wanted to earn their 6th win in a row, they knew that they could not let up 47 points in the half again. The defense was up for the challenge. For the entire second half, Schoolcraft would only give up 35 points to the Lions, with 9 of them coming from the free throw line. A Marshall Thorn layup with 15:15 left in the second half would put the Ocelots in the lead by a score of 57-56 from then on, Schoolcraft would never trail. Over the next 4:30 minutes of play, Schoolcraft would outscore Community Christian by 7 points, highlighted by a Mackhi Jackson layup at the 10:50 mark forcing a Lions timeout. With just over 4 minutes to play, Jackson would nail a 3-point shot to push the Ocelot lead to 15, their largest lead of the game. The Ocelot defense would hold off any attempted Community Christian runs as when the final buzzer rang, Schoolcraft was on top by a score of 93-82. Mackhi Jackson took over in the second half, scoring 19 points, including 4/6 from behind the arc. In the second half, as a team, Schoolcraft shot 5/8 (62.5%) from 3. Ashton Henderson, again, was in double figures for the half, scoring 11 points in all 20 minutes.
For the game, Schoolcraft would have 2 players, Ashton Henderson (27) and Mackhi Jackson(20) with 20+ points with Daniel Lee falling just short with 19 points. Schoolcraft would force 22 total Community Chrisitan turnovers with 13 of them coming from Ocelot steals. Henderson would lead the team with 4 steals. Kechan Johnson, in 24 minutes off the bench, would lead the team with 5 assists. Marshall Thorn would lead the team with 8 rebounds, 7 of them on the offensive end.
Schoolcraft returns to the floor on Saturday, January 13, to open conference play against the #6 ranked team, Macomb Community College. Tip-off is slated for 3:00PM.
