PORT HURON, Mich. – The Milwaukee Area Technical College men's basketball team wasn't able to extend its recent two-game winning streak during this past weekend's appearance at the Skipper's Classic this past Friday and Saturday.
Coming in at 3-8 overall, the Stormers suffered a pair of close defeats to 10th ranked St. Clair County Community College (107-102) on Dec. 6 and Oakland Community College (82-79) on Dec. 7. The pair of losses moved MATC to 3-10 on the year.
In their opening game against the Skippers on Dec. 6, the Stormers played well, shooting above 50 percent (33-of-61) from the field, but it wasn't enough to overcome St. Clair County's excellent shooting night (51.6 percent) from beyond the arc (16-of-31).
Five MATC players finished Friday's game in double figures. Sophomores
Owen Smith and
Cyrus Little each poured in 20 points apiece to lead the Stormers' scoring attack. Freshman
Noah Daniels added 19 points, which was four more points than sophomore teammate
Matthew Hoarde, who scored 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting off the bench. Freshmen
Julian Valentine and
Ky'Moni Hunt each tallied 11 points.
Outside of outscoring St. Clair County 37-11 in bench points, the Stormers shot nearly 40 percent from deep. They finished 11-of-28 on three's, three of which came from Valentine's 3-of-6 performance from beyond the arc.
MATC's second game against Oakland on Dec. 7 nearly came down to the final second. Trailing 81-79 after Oakland's Justin Latham sank a pair of free throws, the Stormers had a chance to tie or take the game-winning shot with 11 seconds left.
Unfortunately, the Owls forced a turnover on MATC's Hoarde on the ensuing possession to help seal the victory.
The three-point defeat proved to be a tale of two halves.
The Stormers looked as if they were in control primarily throughout the entire first half. They went on to take an eight-point lead (46-38) at halftime and managed to extend their lead up to 15 points midway through the second half. However, things took a turn during the final eight minutes of action. Up 74-64 with 7:39 remaining, the Stormers allowed Oakland to go on a timely 13-3 run, which allowed them to knot things up 79-79 with a little over a minute remaining.
Over the final minute of play, MATC went 0-for-2 with one turnover. The poor late game execution forced the Stormers to conclude the Skippers Classic 0-2.
MATC vs. Oakland Stat Book
Antonio Foxwell did most of the heavy lifting for the Stormers' offense. The sophomore guard totaled a team-high 24 points on 9-of-19 shooting and a 4-of-6 performance from deep. Valentine contributed 14 points, three rebounds, one block and a steal. Little scored 11 points off the bench and had eight rebounds. Daniels and Hunt tallied eight points apiece.
MATC vs. St. Clair County Stat Book
Smith and Little collectively led the Stormers with 20 points each. Daniels finished one rebound shy of a double-double with 19 points and nine rebounds. Valentine totaled 11 points, five assists and a pair of rebounds. Hoarde pitched in 15 points, five rebounds, two assists and one steal.
UP NEXT
MATC (3-10) will head to Oakton College at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
