Click the thumbnails to see photos and videos, and to hear Colin Hudson's player spotlight interview.

ESCANABA---The Bay College men's basketball team was forced to play two games on Friday for the first time in school history, and the Norse battled through it to post two victories to close the 2022 portion of the 2022-23 season.

The Western Technical College team had to turn back while en route to Escanaba from LaCrosse Friday morning, and the three remaining teams in the four-team Bay College Winter Classic scrambled to decide what to do.

The plan: Bay would play twice, against Gogebic Community College and against Oakland Community College, with a two-hour break in between games.

The Norse pulled through with an 82-37 win over the GCC Sampsons, and then in the late game, hung on to beat the Oakland CC Raiders, 72-69.

It was the first time in the six-year history of the program that the Norse had to play two full games on the same day. They have played multiple partial games on the same day in “Jubilee” exhibition games in the pre-season in recent years.

“It's one of those things that I've never had to do before, and these guys have never had to do before,” Bay College Coach Matt Johnson said. “We've never played two games in a day before, but we've also never won two games in a day before. We somehow figured out a way to do that.”

“That was pretty crazy, but it was actually fun,” Norse sophomore Lamar Grayson said. “It felt like AAU again! AAU was fun! I like seeing all of my teammates play. I was happy for those guys.”

In Bay's first game on Friday, the Norse rolled over their U.P. Rivals, leading from wire-to-wire. They jumped to a 24-5 lead early on, led 40-18 at the half, and were able to play their entire roster throughout the second half.

Eleven different Norse players scored, led by career-highs off the bench from Michael Foust and James Hughes, both of whom scored 14 points.

“I wanted to be confident, and to be ready,” Foust said. “I got excited (about playing twice in the same day) because everyone would get lots of playing time. I was excited for everyone to get out there. The energy that we brought."

"We were, as a team, just happy for everyone. Excited for everyone to score.”

As for his first career dunk?

“I closed my eyes and hoped it went in,” Foust said, in all seriousness. “It's tough to dunk in a college basketball game. Just pray that it goes in!”

Escanaba High School graduate Colin Hudson chipped in 12 points, and Tyrel Creger nailed all three of his three-point baskets and finished with nine points. He added five rebounds.

The Norse made 16-of-20 free throw attempts, and sank ten of their 19 three-point baskets. They out-rebounded the Samsons, 45-30, with 13 offensive boards.

Every Bay player played at least seven minutes, and nobody played more than 21 minutes.

Gogebic (7-6) got eleven points from Jaden Borseth, as he knocked down three triples in the second half. Braxton Sbraggia chipped in eight points and six rebounds.

After a break, the Norse got back on the court against the OCC Raiders, coached by former University of Michigan standout Antoine Joubert for the last 14 years.

The Norse had a strong first half, going on a 17-4 run to turn a 13-11 lead into a 30-15 advantage. Joc Overstreet knocked down a triple with 8:27 left in the half, and then West Iron County graduate Justin Nelson got a rebound and an “and-one” basket with 6:51 left in the half. Then, the highlight was a steal by Hudson, and an outlet pass to Nelson for the alley-oop two-handed slam dunk.

It was Nelson's second dunk of the game, and the Norse were up by 15 points.

The Norse grabbed their biggest lead of the game at 36-20, but a 10-2 Raider run ended the first half with Oakland closing to within 38-30 at the break.

Bay regained a double digit lead at 51-39 after Lamar Grayson hit a pair of baskets to end a 9-2 run.

Oakland kept closing the gap to within two possessions, but the Norse had the answer again: a Jaylen Flaniken triple with 4:19 left made it 59-51, then the Norse had to hang on down the stretch after taking a 69-61 lead in the final seconds.

Oakland (6-4) scored five points on one play, with Malcom King getting a driving lay-up, then on a Bay turnover, Amari Frye scooped it in and got fouled.

He made the foul shot, bringing the Raiders to within 69-66.

“I knew they were going to make a run,” Johnson said. “It's tough to be locked in and play 80 minutes of basketball in a day. We had just enough to weather it.”

Grayson, however, was solid at the free throw line in the closing seconds. He would up making seven of eight from the line, missing only the back-end of the two-shot foul with two seconds left in the game. Oakland could not get off a decent shot from full-court, and the Norse hung on to earn their second victory on the same day.

“I work on them a lot,” Grayson said of his free throw shooting. “Pulling out two games today was big. I mean, going into break, we needed that.”

Bay made 23-of-33 foul shots in the game, so in the two games on Friday, the Norse made 39-of-53 free throw attempts (73.6%).

Grayson led the Norse with 17 points, including those seven free throws. Genesis Kemp came off the bench to score 14 points, and he added seven rebounds. His biggest basket of the game came in the second half, a triple after Oakland had closed to within 51-49.

Point guard Tyrel Creger added 14 points and six rebounds, and he had only one turnover in 35 minutes of play. Nelson scored nine points and Hudson had seven rebounds to go along with his seven points.

The Raiders were led by Jonathon Risi, who knocked down four triples and had a game-high 23 points. Frye had a double-double, with 16 points and eleven rebounds.

“They're good,” Johnson said of the Raiders. “They're well-coached. They run their stuff incredibly-well. They shoot the ball very, very well. I thought we did a pretty good job defensively of holding a very good team to under 70 (points). We did enough to get a win. It's a great way to go into break.”

Bay improved to 3-0 All-time against Oakland, with the other two wins coming in suburban Detroit.

Bay College improved to 9-2 on the season.

“If you had told me, knowing the schedule that we had, that we would go in with a 9-2 record going into break, I would be very, very happy,” said Johnson, who's team's only losses have come to 2022 NJCAA National Tournament qualifiers Milwaukee Tech and Dakota County (Minn.). “We've got great guys, and they're working really, really hard. I still think our best basketball is in front of us.”

The Norse are now idle until after the holidays, when they travel to Florida for a tournament hosted by Palm Beach State College. Meanwhile, the Bay College Winter Classic wraps up on Saturday with Oakland facing Gogebic at noon.