Turnovers Hurt Pioneers in Road Loss

Auburn Hills- The Delta College Men's Basketball team took a four game winning streak on the road Wednesday night when they traveled to Oakland Community College for a MCCAA Eastern Division contest. With both teams battling for playoff position, it would prove to be a pivotal game that went back and forth for much of the night.  Unfortunately for the Pioneers, the OCC Raiders had the final say and came out on top 90-81.

DC started out hot offensively and jumped out to an early 7-0 lead. Two free throws by Allante Wheeler pushed the lead to 22-14 with 12 minutes left in the half before the Raiders were able to bounce back and get things going on the offensive end. In forcing numerous Pioneer turnovers, Oakland was able to end the half on a 28-16 run and take a four point lead into the half.

In the second half, Raiders guard Deajay Kletts caught fire from behind the arc and helped Oakland build a lead that peaked at 16 points. Delta continued to fight, however, and cut that lead in half with less than two minutes to play. That would be as close as they would get though as Oakland made free throws down the stretch to seal the win and move to 6-6 in conference while clinching a playoff berth.

"We didn't play fundamentally sound tonight," said Pioneer head Coach Carlos McMath. "It is always tough to win on the road and when you turn the ball over 29 times, that creates a scenario that is nearly impossible to overcome."

The Pioneers were led by Tyler Ellis with 18 points and four steals. Jovon Thomason added 16 points and six rebounds. Jon Swift and Martel Handley had 12 and 10 points respectively.

"We had a tough road win on Monday and I think there was a little hangover tonight," said McMath. "Sometimes when you win games and get results, the positives overshadow the negatives. The negatives and flaws in our game came out tonight."

"We need to bounce back, get back to the film room, and prepare for another big game on Saturday. It is important to continue pushing forward, cut down on our mistakes, and finish up the remaining conference games playing smart basketball. We need to regain that focus as we head towards post season play."

With the loss the Pioneers are now 7-5 in conference and 7-17 overall. They will look to get back on track on Saturday afternoon when they host Henry Ford Community College. Tip-off is at 3:00 at Pioneer Gymnasium.