PIONEERS SUFFER TOUGH LOSS ON THE ROAD

Auburn Hills, MI-

Back on January 6, the Delta College men's basketball team had a convincing home victory over the Oakland Raiders 96-69.  In their first meeting, the Pioneers clicked on all cylinders and frustrated the Raiders right from the tip-off.  On Wednesday night the Pioneers would look to get the season sweep over the Raiders.  It would be a tough task as the Delta Men hadn't won a road game at Oakland in over eight years.                                 

The Pioneers got off to a slow start and were down 13-6 at the five-minute mark of the first half.  The Delta men would battle back and a Justin Person three-point field goal followed up by a free throw by Martel Handley tied the game at 18-18 with eight minutes left in the first half.  The Pioneers would take the lead, 26-24, when Leonte Parker found Jordan Martinus for a corner three pointer.  A Justin Person lay-up at the buzzer would give the Pioneers a 37-36 lead heading in to the locker room.                  

The Pioneers expanded their lead to 49-40 when Jalen Fykes finished a tough hook shot in the paint.  The Raiders would dominate the next five minutes and tighten the score to 57-55 with eight minutes left in the game.  Another Justin Person three pointer and a Torandis Mack basket gave the Pioneers a 70-64 lead with 2:30 on the clock.  The Raiders would battle back and several late Pioneer turnovers gave Oakland a two-point lead with five seconds remaining.  A Virgil Walker Jr. lay-up would seem to be the game tying basket but it was ruled to be made after the final buzzer and the Raiders defeated the Pioneers 73-71.                         

All night long the Pioneers had a tough time shooting the basketball.  They were only 21-61 (34%) from the floor and 5-20 (25%) from behind the three-point line.  The cold shooting night ended up being the downfall for the Delta men.       

"Tonight, we put ourselves in a position to win," said Head Coach Carlos McMath.  "We were up four with a minute and a half left and we had the ball.  We needed to execute down the stretch and we failed to do that tonight.  The margin of error between winning and losing is very small and it is magnified when you are on the road playing a tough opponent." 

The Pioneers only had one player reach double figures.  Justin Person had a game high 28 points going 8-8 from the free throw line.  Martel Handley had 6 steals and Torandis Mack added 4 assists.    

"We need to continue to move forward," said McMath.  "We have the potential to do some great things this season and make a deep run this year but we need to work on the small things.  The small things will make the difference for us."           

The Pioneers (14-4, 6-4) will host Henry Ford Community College (17-5, 8-2) on Saturday afternoon.  The Hawks are currently in first place in the MCCAA Eastern Conference and are ranked 14^th in the nation.  In the first meeting the Hawks defeated the Pioneers 75-56.  Game time is set for 3:00 pm.