SC4 men's basketball hangs on to upset No. 12 Henry Ford, 76-74
The game was tied for the 12th time. After 21 lead changes, the St. Clair County Community College men's basketball team was deadlocked with No. 12 Henry Ford, 72-72.
Then came the 22nd and final lead change with 34.3 seconds to play.
Skippers guard Omari Duncan secured a defensive rebound and heaved it to a streaking Caron Clayton, who scored a right-handed layup that put SC4 in front, 74-72.
"Before I went up (for the rebound) I had already seen him taking off," Duncan said. "As soon I grabbed the rebound, I just turned and looked up the court and he was right there. I put it right on the pads and he did the rest."
"I heard (the footsteps behind) but it didn't matter to me," Clayton said. "I just had to make the layup at the time. That was a good pass by Omari. It was a must-bucket."
And it proved to be the difference. SC4 held on and stunned the Hawks, 76-74, at SC4 Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon. Duncan led all scorers with 26 points and snagged 12 rebounds. Clayton added 21 points and four steals for the Skippers, who improved to 14-6.
"(It took) mental toughness," SC4 coach Richard Field said. "I told my kids down the stretch that we've been in a couple of these games ... and you've just got to be mentally tough. Don't let one moment take you out of your game. Until the clock says zero, you've got to stay locked in no matter what."
The Skippers faced their largest deficit midway through the first half. A pair of free throws from Carrington McCaskill gave Henry Ford a 24-15 edge with 11:19 to play before halftime. But SC4 closed on a 21-12 run and the game was tied, 36-36, at the break.
Neither team led by more than four points in the second, as the Skippers and Hawks constantly traded baskets.
"They were over-aggressive on the ball," Duncan said. "So once we made one good move and get downhill, the rest was up to us to finish and make a good pass."
SC4 took advantage of Henry Ford's anxiousness and bullied its way inside. The Skippers outscored the Hawks in the paint, 48-30.
"That was really big," Clayton said of the win. "We were waiting for this since the summer time. Shoutout to my team, they played hard. (Today) was really good for us."
"We've got the toughest league in the country," Field said. "We're constantly going against ranked teams. You've just got to stay focused. But don't look past the other teams that aren't ranked. Because everybody in our league can beat anybody.
"So those are good games to get up (for), but we've got another one on Monday that we've got to go get."
The Skippers will visit Schoolcraft College at 7:30 p.m. Monday.
Contact Brenden Welper at bwelper@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrendenWelper.
This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: SC4 men's basketball hangs on to upset No. 12 Henry Ford, 76-74
