Click the thumbnails to see photos, and video highlights. Also click to hear post-game comments from Trevor Nolan, Emerson Droubie, and Coach Matt Johnson. Also click to hear Droubie's player spotlight interview.
ST. PAUL, Minn.---The Bay College Norse men's basketball team outlasted the North Region State College (N.D.) Royals Sunday evening in Minnesota, bouncing back from a disappointing home loss to Oakland Community College nine days earlier.
Bay had four men score in double figures and posted a 79-69 win. The game was played in a neutral gym at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minn., a gym that claims to have hosted the first-ever college basketball game nearly a century ago.
And while this game was not perfect for the Norse, Coach Matt Johnson was happy to see his team pull together and rebound from last week's loss.
"Great team win," Johnson said. "Just a phenominal effort. Great energy. We had a bad finish to the first half and a bad finish to the second half, but a heck of an effort by our guys. They worked their butts off. Played really, really well. I literally couldn't be more proud."
Munising's Trevor Nolan came off the bench, again, to spark the Norse. He swished five triples through the hoop, all from well beyond the three-point line, continuing an early-season trend that has seen the smallest guy on the court make a big inpact in the game.
"I was just trying to have fun with my teammates, and give it everything I have," Nolan said. "Just trying to play my role, doing everything I can to help us win. Oh, it's so fun, especially when I see my teammates celebrating with me. When they're falling, it feels like Munising. Just run the offense. And if you're open, shoot it with confidence. That's what we all did today and it worked lout for us."
It was also an excellent game for Taveon Mann. He did it on both ends of the court, impressing his coach.
"Thirteen points, eleven rebounds, five assists, two steals, two blocked shots," Johnson said. "That's an incedible stat line. And he couldn't breathe."
Johnson says he wants to see more of that from his young team that has has almost all freshmen.
"Weird," he said, somewhat sarcastically. "You work hard, you have good energy, you do what's asked of you. And you get good results."
It was also a good game for Emerson Droubie, playing just 45 minutes away from his hometown of Cambridge. Droubie struggled early, missing two straight free throws, turning the ball over twice, and missing from the floor. But he roared back with a performance that incluced 13 points, eight rebounds, two steals, a blocked shot, amd three made triples
"Once I knocked down that first three-pointer and saw it go through the net, the net got two times as big," said an emotional Drouble, who had about 20 family and friends in the stands of this ancient gymnasium. "That gave me the upmost confidence for the rest of the game. It means a lot. I've got a lot of family up there. My friends. My high school coach. I wanted to go out there and give my best effort, not only to Coach Johnson, but to my mom and dad, my family, and my friends. I felt like I could've gave a little bit more, but we beat a really good team."
Indeed, Lake Region, an NJCAA-Division One team from Devils Lake, N.D., (Bay is NJCAA-Division Two), had won seven games in a row. The Royals battled back several times from deficits as large as 19 points before the Norse finally secured the victory. All eleven of their players scored, with Quyvant Douglas leading the way with 12 points and five rebounds.
The fourth Norse player to score in double figures was William Kelley, who managed eleven points on three triples while playing with a broken nose protected by a plexiglass shield.
Bay led, 31-18, in the first half, after Nolan's second triple. But a rough ending to the half saw the Royals outscore the Norse, 19-11, to make it a 42-37 game at halftime.
Bay's largest lead of the game came at 77-58 before the Royals scored eleven straight points to close the gap to 77-69. The Norse scored a couple of free throws and stopped two Royals possessions to end the game with the victory.
The Norse (4-1) travel to Ironwood to face Gogebic Communiy College Tuesday night. The game starts at 8:00 ET.
