Men's Basketball's Win Streak Snapped at Rochester Christian

(Rochester Hills, MI)-- The Cleary Cougar men's basketball team battled to the end, but they would come up short on the road, falling 86-79 to the Rochester Christian Warriors Saturday afternoon.

After RCU jumped out to a 6-2 lead to start the game, Jacob Mueller would make a layup, and after a defensive stop, Nick Ellis hit a three, giving Cleary a 7-6 lead.  The two teams would trade points, and with Rochester Christian leading 10-9, Zane Kemp was fouled, and would make both free throws.  A defensive stand by the Cougars would see Isaiah Bailey and Zane Kemp score back to back baskets, forcing a timeout by the Warriors.  With the Cougars leading 17-13, Isaiah Bailey would make a jumper to give Cleary a 19-13 lead, their largest of the game.  The Warriors would climb back into the game, but key baskets by Isaiah Bailey and Trevor Viau kept the lead at six with just under seven minutes remaining in the half.  The Warriors would go on another run, and this time they were able to tie the game at31-31 with 4:23 to play.  The run would continue, and Cleary would find themselves trailing 41-35 at the break.

Cleary would cut the Warrior lead to one point after a Nick Ellis layup finished a run through the first 3:30 of the second half, but RCU would stop that run, and regained their five point edge.  The Warriors would make a couple plays on defense to open up the game, and they would lead 56-47.  Derrick Miller would make an and-one layup, cutting the deficit to six points with just under thirteen minutes remaining.  This set up a back and forth second half, with RCU leading by as many as eight points, and with Cleary getting as close as three points.  With the Cougars trailing by seven with 4:00 to play, Nick Ellis would dunk home a shot attempt, cutting the deficit to five points.  After a defensive stop, Isaiah Bailey made a jumper to get the Cougars back within three pionts, with the score 74-71 with 3:19 remaining.  Cleary would get a defensive stop, but were unable to narrow the gap further, and the Warriors capitalized, making a three pointer off of an offensive rebound to regain a six point lead.  The Cougars would stay within seven points down the stretch, but each time the Cougars were able to narrow the deficit to five points, the Warriors would make their free throws, and saw out the game.

Zane Kemp had a team high 17 points and 8 rebounds to lead the Cougars in both categories.  Isaiah Bailey would add 15 points on 7/9 shooting off the bench.  Ten out of the twelve Cougars that played scored in the game in what was a balanced Cleary offensive.

The loss ends a five game win-streak, and now gives Cleary an 11-14 record, and 10-10 record in the WHAC.  Cleary will stay on the road for their next game, with a trip to Defiance, Ohio on Wednesday, February 18, to take on the Yellow Jackets.  The game is set to begin at 7:30 PM.