GOCC men's basketball moves to 2-0

Jordan Lomax exploded for 21 points to lead Glen Oaks Community College in an 83-75 victory over NJCAA Division 1 Olive-Harvey College Saturday in the second game at the Roadrunner Classic in Dowagiac. 

He was 11-for-15 at the foul line in the effort. Akin Smith was steady again with a 16-point effort, and teammates Kelvion Brown (14), Amauri Moore (12) and Joriem Lomax (12) also reached double figures for the Vikings, who moved to 2-0 to start the season. Darius Styles chipped in eight points for GOCC. 

The Vikings trailed 45-38 at the break chipped away with a cople of free throws, a spin move to the bucket by Moore and a key block by Moore that resutled in a transition dunk by Jordan Lomax to make it 45-44 in favor of Olive-Harvey. 

A dish from Jordan Lomax to Moore in the lane gave the Vikings a 46-45 lead with under 17 minutes remaining but Olive-Harvey answered with a 3-pointer on the other end and would connect from the foul line twice to regain a 50-46 advantage. 

Moore attacked the rim to score, drawing a foul in the process, which fired up the GOCC bench as the Vikings climbed back to within two. Olive-Harvey stretched the lead back to six with under 15 minutes to play. A Joriem Lomax block at the rim led to a fastbreak for the Vikings and Smith scored to make it a two-possession game. But Olive-Harvey took advantage of GOCC turnovers to run it back up to 58-51 with 13:03 remaining. 

Coming out of a timeout, Jordan Lomax sliced through the lane for a double-pump reverse layup and Brown scored in transition to get back within three. After a frenzy of missed shots by both teams over the next few minutes, Joriem Lomax got to the line and knocked down a free throw to make it 58-56. After the teams traded charges, Joriem Lomax buried a triple from the corner to give the Vikings a 59-58 lead with 8:46 to play. 

Jordan Lomax hit Smith on a give-and-go down the lane to make it 61-58 in favor of GOCC. The Panthers cut it to one with a transition bucket following a GOCC turnover but a smooth turnaround jumper by Styles pushed the Viking lead back to three points. Olive-Harvey hit three free throws on two trips down the floor to tie the game at 63-63 with 5:58 remaining. 

Jordan Lomax drew a foul on a drive and made both at the stripe for a 65-63 Glen Oaks advantage. The Panthers answered quickly with a putback on the other end to tie the contest again. Smith muscled in a field goal from short range but Olive-Harvey got back to the foul line and converted on both attempts to make it 67-67. With 4:11 to play, Olive-Harvey drained another pair of foul shots to pull ahead. Following a Glen Oaks timeout, Styles connected on a jumper to tie the game at 69-69. Glen Oaks forced a turnover on the Panther possession and Joriem Lomax threw down a dunk on the other end to make it 71-69. 

A steal by the Panthers resulted in a layup to tie the game with 3:08 remaining. Jordan Lomax battled to the rim and was fouled. He'd hit the first free throw but came up short on the second. Joriem Lomax did the same shortly after, connecting on 1-of-2 from the line to give Glen Oaks a 73-71 lead. Brown grabbed a defensive rebound, taking it the length of the court and missing an attempt from under the rim, but Joriem Lomax cleaned up the possession with a putback to make it 75-71. 

Olive-Harvey scored on the baseline with 1:14 to play to make it a two-point contest but Jordan Lomax sliced through the lane for an easy lay-in. He'd grab a defensive board on the other end and draw a foul with 40 seconds left to help seal the victory. He hit both foul shots to give the Vikings a six-point cushion. The Panthers missed a 3-pointer and Smith scored on the other end to essentially put the game away. Brown helped nail things shut with two made free throws.