Pioneers Picks Up First Win in Home Opener

The Delta College Pioneers opened up the Pioneer Gym for 2014-15 seasons with a strong performance which led to a 92-50 victory.  The Pioneers came out of the gate with vigorous energy that caused an 18-5 lead predicated on great team defense.  Rochester College JV fought back to cut the lead down to 6 but some timely 3's by Benjamin Batts (19 pts, 5 ast, 3 rebs, 1blk) and Davion Phillips (8pts, 2stls) stopped Rochester's run.  Pioneers starting lineup was plagued by foul trouble but the bench brought great intensity into the game.  Entering halftime with a 45-31, the Pioneers 14 point lead that quickly ballooned to 24 points sparked by a 10-0 run.  Rochester College stormed back with their own 9-0 run to bring the lead down to 15 points.  The Pioneers had some turnover issues when Rochester began their full court press, but quickly rebounded after a timeout by Coach Blackbourn.  The Intensity increased from the bench to the court and the Pioneers never let their intensity waver until the final buzzer. 

The Pioneers had balanced scoring on the night including 40 points from the bench.  Benjamin Batts led the team with 19 points while Justin Person led the bench with 10 points.  Freshman Point Guard Markel Bradshaw had 11 points and 5 assist while Julian Henderson had a great overall game with 6 points, 8 rebs and 5 assist and unmeasersured tenacity for defense.  Dan Stanbeck finshed the game with 13 points going 5-5 from the field and 1-1 from behind the arc.  Fred Toins added 9 points from the bench by going 3-4 from behind the arc.  Rochester College was led by Daruis Wilson with 15 points while John Kocik added in 11 points.

On the night the crowd that was in the gym helped fuel the energy that the players were exacerbating.  Last night was a great atmosphere for our players to play in and it really helped our players said coach McMath.  The Pioneers put up 92 points on the evening but Coach Blackbourn is proud of one stat more than others, "We had 19 assists on the night which spoke to our willingness to execute on offense."  Coach Blackbourn spoke highly of his team's teamwork and ability not only to distribute the ball but also play through each other on defense."  Coach McMath tempered his first college win as a coach by saying that "it has been a long week but we have 27 regular season games to go, there is so much work to be done." 

The Pioneers take on a young and talented Mid-Michigan Community College team Saturday, November 8th in Mt. Pleasant.