Lansing, Mich. – The Raiders traveled to Lansing Wednesday night in attempt to win their first game at LCC in the Luke Bronkema era and most importantly stay in first place in the conference. Cam Spicer (Grand Rapids, MI) would knock in a career high 25 points leading the Raiders victory 71-63, giving them a two game edge in the race for the conference title. The Raiders are now 17-6 overall and 10-2 in the MCCAA-West. The Stars have lost two in a row and fall to 10-12 overall and 8-4 in league play.
The Stars jumped out to a 7-4 lead, but a Sammie Ryans (Kentwood, MI) three capped an 8-0 run to give the Raiders the five point lead with 14:11 on the clock. A three pointer by Skyler Wilson tied the ball game at 12, but on the Raiders next possession, William Otole (Grand Rapids, MI) answered back with a three of his own. The Stars despite many runs, couldn't pull back ahead. At the half it was a nine point advantage for GRCC and after one of the many Spicer layups, just three minutes into the second half, the Raiders would lead by 15.
Tevin Ali's (17 points-12 rebounds) lay up for the Stars with 4:25 left in the game made it 62-57 and the Stars got to within 5 points again with 55 seconds remaining. However, on the next Raider possession, the visitors got a clutch put back by D'Avery Moore (Kentwood, MI) making it 70-63 and giving up any hope for a Stars comeback. Spicer scored 19 of his team's 39 points in the second half, including seven from the charity stripe.
The 63 points scored by the Stars was the second lowest points allowed by the Raiders this season. Just two days ago the Raiders gave up a season low 56 at Kalamazoo Valley. In their last four games, the Raiders are allowing just 67.3 points/game, which is 10 points lower than their 77.0 season average.
Along with Spicer's career high 25 points he added 8 rebounds (second best on his team) and team highs of 5 assists and 2 steals. Sammie Ryans chipped in with 11 points and 7 rebounds. Ike Kanu (Grand Rapids, MI) had 9 points and 11 rebounds. Otole finished with 10 points while Moore finished with 8 points.
The Raiders will look to avenge an early season loss to Glen Oaks as they host the Vikings this Friday night at 7:30 pm. The Vikings will have no days of rest as they have to play a makeup game with Jackson Thursday night. Currently their record is 7-13 overall and 4-7 in the conference. Follow GRCC Athletics for all the game's updates.
