GOCC men close out home slate with win
Smith and Moore lead Vikings on Sophomore Night
Fittingly, Akin Smith and Amauri Moore guided the Glen Oaks men's basketball team to a 68-59 victory Saturday over Southwestern Michigan on Sophomore Night. The two outgoing players combined for 35 points in the win.
Smith poured in 19, including 11 in the second half, and Moore posted 16 as the duo suited up for the Vikings at home for the final time.
Kelvion Brown and Joreim Lomax both finished with 11, Marlon Gaitan had five, Jaiden Stamps added four and Keri Foster finished with two.
Lomax gathered his own miss and knocked down a shot as he fell to the floor at the horn to give Glen Oaks a 34-32 halftime lead to fire up a robust "Pack The VAC" crowd.
A putback by Moore and a turnaround jumpber by Lomax got the Vikings rolling early in the second half, extending the lead to five points. The Roadrunners tied the game at 39-39 with just under 13 minutes to play but Moore knocked down a pair of free throws on the next possession to but GOCC back out front. The Vikings continued to clean up the defensive boards and a transition bucket by Smith made it a 43-39 lead for the home team.
Smith found a cutting Gaitan backdoor for a layup and Smith would add a bucket in the paint around the midway point of the second frame to push the lead back to five. Moore muscled in a shot down low to extend the cushion, 51-44, as the Vikings mostly limited the Roadrunners to one-shot possessions. A spin in the lane by Smith pushed the lead to nine points and a long outlet pass by Brown to Smith in transition gave the Vikings their first double-digut lead with under eight minutes to play.
SMC got back to within six at the 5:28 mark before Brown connected with a cutting Lomax for a reverse layup and a strong move to the rim by Moore on back-to-back possessions. The Vikings were able to maintain a healthy cusion the rest of the way to log the win.
Glen Oaks closes out the regular season on the road against Kalamazoo Valley Tuesday.
