Mott Community College at Lansing Community College – – Mens’ Basketball – – The Bleacher Denizen – – December 11, 2021 – – by Chuck Krafft

This afternoon, your Bleacher Denizen will temporarily graduate from doing high school games and enter Lansing Community College’s gym, where the LCC Stars will host the Mott Bears in a Michigan Community College Athletic Association game. Per the MCCAA Men’s Basketball Standings today, Mott is undefeated at 9-0 and ranked at #1 in the country. Lansing Community College (to be hereafter abbreviated as LCC to destress your Aging Bleacher Denizen’s typing fingers) has an 8-2 record and is ranked #15 in the country.

It’s exciting for me; Cole Krause from Potterville, Kylor Mills from DeWitt, Sean Cobb from Williamston and Dawson Lott from Webberville have all been featured in a number of my articles when they were in high school. It will be fun to see them on a higher level of basketball.

The LCC Stars are led in scoring by Drew Lowder, who averages 22.9 points per game and shoots 37.9% on his three point attempts. He also averages 5.3 assists per game. Sean Cobb scores 19.2 points and pulls down 8.4 rebounds per game. Cole Krause scores 15.6 points and averages 8.4 rebounds per game. Tyshan Kelley averages 12.9 points and gets 2.5 assists and 2.4 turnovers per game. Zhervonte Smith scores 9.8 points per game.

Mott Community College has won a four national championships since Coach Steve Schmidt has been with them (31 years) and always has a great team. They are led in scoring by Andre Bradford, who averages 13.8 points per game and shoots 37.5% on from the three point line. Josiah Hammons scores 11.8 points per game. Connor Bush scores 9.8 points and gets 4.0 rebounds per game. Derrick Bryant leads the team with 4.6 assists per game. He also is shooting 53.8% on his three point shots. Savieon Williams averages 9.6 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.

Coach Steve Schmidt was kind enough to meet with me before the game. He said Josiah Hammons and Austin Roland are great perimeter defenders. (Sometimes, it’s hard to know that from statistics. “Steals” and “Blocks” only tell part of the story.) It was really cool to get a chance to meet someone who has accomplished all Coach Schmidt has accomplished.

Announcer Ken Suddall introduced Art Frank, who was the LCC basketball coach when the Stars won the National Championship in 1988. It was great to see Coach Frank get some recognition!!

It is now time to get a look at the results of the game through the (hopefully) open eyes of an aging Bleacher Denizen who was never able to escape church league when he attempted to hoop in the days of yore. Basketball coaches tired of replacing all the peach baskets we used to shoot at when they crumbled under the frequent pelting by the Bleacher Denizen’s bricks.

Mott gets the opening tap. The Bears miss a three point shot from the side. LCC misses a layup. Drew Lowder steals the ball for the Stars. Josiah Hammons steals the ball back for the Bears. Mott misses a three point shot from the top of the key. Mott misses a putback. The rebound goes out of bounds and the Stars take possession. Andre Bradford knocks the ball away from the Stars; Josiah Hammons dives to the floor to tie the ball up. The Possession Arrow coldly ignores the fine Bear defense and awards the ball to LCC.

LCC misses a ten footer in the lane. Derrick Bryant passes to Savieon Williams, who gets hits a layup to give Mott the first points of the game. LCC misses a jump shot from the free throw line. The rebound goes out of bounds and Mott takes possession. Mott misses a jump shot from the free throw elbow. Derrick Bryant steals the ball for the Bears. Cole Krause steals the ball for the Stars. LCC misses a three point shot from the wing. Jaylen Davison gets the offensive rebound for the Stars. LCC misses a layup. On the other end, Sean Cobb blocks a Bear reverse layup.

LCC misses a three point shot from the corner. Mott misses a three point shot from the wing. LCC lays the ball up and somehow, it rests on the rim for a few seconds; it finally falls off so the Bleacher Denizen can finish his note! Derrick Bryant passes to Savieon Williams, who hits a layup to give Mott a 4-0 lead.

Drew Lowder drives the baseline and hits a six foot jumper to give LCC its first two points of the game. Josiah Hammons passes to Andre Bradford, who hits a three point shot from the wing for the Bears. LCC misses a driving six foot shot from the side. Connor Bush hits a fast break layup for Mott. Sean Cobb hits a putback for LCC. Connor Bush drives and hits a layup to give Mott an 11-4 lead.

Andre Bradford’s fierce defense causes the Stars to dribble the ball out of bounds. Mott commits a shot clock violation. Armond Williams knocks the ball away from LCC; a teammate fouls trying to collect the loose ball. LCC misses a layup. Mott commits an over and back violation. Drew Lowder first a cross court pass to Tyshan Kelley, who hits a three point shot from the wing to trim the Mott lead to 11-7.

Mott misfires on a triple try from the top of the key. Armond Williams gets his hand on the rebound and throws it off LCC to secure another possession for his team. Armond Williams makes a fine post move to get a layup for Mott. Jailin Lee draws a charging foul from Mott. Mott misses a layup and a putback. Zhervonte Smith hits a three pointer from the wing for LCC to shave the Bear lead to 13-10.

Mott misses a fifteen foot shot from the wing. Jailin Lee gets a hand on the ball and a Star dribbler loses the ball out of bounds. Mott misses a six foot shot from the side of the lane. Kelvin Balfour gets the offensive rebound for the Bears. J.D. Rawls hits a layup for Mott. LCC misses a jump shot. Mott misses a fast break layup and fouls on the rebound. Drew Lowder makes a long pass to Tyshan Kelley, who sinks a threeball from the side to cut the Mott lead to 15-13.

Tyshan Kelley steals the ball and hits a fast break layup for LCC to tie the game. Mott misses a threeball from the wing. LCC fouls on the rebound. Derrick Bryant passes to Andre Bradford, who hits a sixteen foot two point shot from the corner for the Bears. LCC misfires on a threeball from the wing. Tyshan Kelley steals the ball; he hits a three pointer from the corner to give LCC a one point lead. Mott misses a jump shot. LCC throws a pass out of bounds. Connor Bush is fouled on a fast break layup. He hits one of his two free throws for Mott to tie the game at 18-18 with 7:31 to play in the first half.

LCC misses a three pointer from the wing. Cole Krause gets the offensive rebound for the Stars; LCC misses a layup. Sean Cobb steals the Mott outlet pass. LCC throws its outlet pass nearly to outer space and the ball sails out of bounds. Drew Lowder steals a Bear pass. LCC misses a jumper from the free throw line. Andre Bradford puts back a missed triple try to give Mott two points. Drew Lowder hits a layup for LCC to tie the game at 20-20.

LCC knocks the ball out of bounds; Mott retains possession. Sean Cobb knocks a pass out of bounds to keep the ball out of the lane; Mott retains possession. Austin Roland drives and hits a layup for Mott. Drew Lowder hits a three point shot off the dribble from the wing to give LCC a 23-22 lead.

Armond Williams gets a tip in for Mott to give the Bears a one point lead. LCC misses a three point shot from the wing. Cole Krause makes a great effort and throws the ball off Mott, but Mott is able to keep the ball in bounds. Mott throws an outlet pass out of bounds. LCC misses a three pointer from the side. Mott misses a five foot shot from the side of the lane. Austin Roland knocks a pass out of bounds; LCC retains possession. Zhervonte Smith passes to Sean Cobb, who makes a post move and hits a layup to give the Stars a 25-24 lead.

Kelvin Balfour makes a nice hesitation dribble and drives by the LCC defense for a Mott layup to give the lead back to the Bears. LCC misses a six foot shot from the baseline. Kelvin Balfour passes to J.D. Rawls, who hits a three point shot from the corner for the Bears. Jaylen Davison passes to Sean Cobb, who hits a layup for LCC. Mott turns the ball over. LCC misses a six foot shot in the lane. J.D. Rawls is fouled on a layup and makes one of his two free throws for LCC. With 2:02 remaining in the first half, Mott has a 30-27 lead.

Kelvin Balfour gets the offensive rebound for the Bears. Mott loses a pass out of bounds. Zhervonte Smith is fouled on an eight foot banked shot from the side of the lane and makes both his free throws. Josiah Hammons hits a three point shot from the corner to give Mott a 33-29 lead.

Josiah Hammons blocks an LCC three point shot from the wing. Drew Lowder recovers the ball for LCC and makes a layup. Mott misses a driving banked runner. LCC misses a three point attempt from the side. Kelvin Balfour soars and dunks the ball for Mott. LCC misses a three pointer from the side. Cole Krause gets the offensive rebound for the Stars, but time expires before he can shoot.

At halftime, Mott has a 35-31 lead.

Drew Lowder has 12 points and Tyshan Kelley has 8 points to lead the LCC halftime scoring. Sean Cobb has 6 points.

Andre Bradford has 7 points for Mott and J.D. Rawls has 6 points.

Mott has the ball to begin the second half. Connor Bush is fouled on a layup and hits both his free throws for Mott. Connor Bush blocks a Star layup. Jaylen Davison blocks a Mott jumper from the free throw line. Mott recovers the ball. Jaylen Davison steals the ball for LCC. Drew Lowder drives and dishes the ball to Tyshan Kelley, who makes a three point shot from the corner to cut the Mott lead to 37-34.

Mott misses a five foot hook shot in the lane. Savieon Williams steals the ball for the Bears. LCC misses a ten footer off the dribble in the lane. The rebound goes out of bounds and Mott takes possession. Jaylen Davison knocks a Bear pass out of bounds; LCC retains possession. Tyshan Kelley makes an impressive leap to knock a Mott cross court pass out of bounds. Tyshan Kelley steals a Mott pass. Tyshan Kelley passes to Drew Lowder, who throws in a threeball from the side to tie the game at 37-37.

Cole Krause and Drew Lowder double team a Mott ball handler; Drew Lowder finally steals the ball for the Stars. An LCC dribbler steps out of bounds. Mott misses a driving layup. Savieon Williams hits a putback to give the lead to Mott. Cole Krause is fouled on a layup and hits two free throws to tie the game at 39-39 with 17:05 left in the game.

Derrick Bryant inbounds the ball to Andre Bradford, who hits a fifteen foot shot from the baseline to give Mott the lead. Tyshan Kelley passes to Sean Cobb, who spins and hits a layup to retie the game. Tyshan Kelley steals the ball and hits a fast break layup to give LCC a two point lead. Derrick Bryant passes to Savieon Williams, who uses great footwork to free himself for a layup for Mott that ties the game at 43-43.

LCC misses a three pointer from the wing. Andre Bradford passes to Josiah Hammons, who hits a three pointer from the corner for Mott to break the tie. Drew Lowder inbounds the ball to Sean Cobb, who spins and hits a layup for LCC. Jailin Lee hits a driving layup for the Bears and is fouled. He makes his free throw. With 15 minutes left in the game, Mott has a 49-45 lead.

J.D. Rawls steals the ball for the Bears. Mott misses a fast break layup. Armond Williams hits a putback for Mott. LCC misses a three point shot from the wing; Sean Cobb pulls down the offensive rebound. Zhervonte Smith passes to Cole Krause, who soars for a dunk and is fouled. Cole Krause hits two free throws to shave the Bear lead to 51-47 with 14 minutes to go in the game.

Mott misfires on a threeball from the corner. Kelvin Balfour steals the ball for the Bears. Drew Lowder nearly steals the ball for LCC; the ball goes out of bounds and the Bears get another opportunity. Mott misses a jumper from the wing. Drew Lowder hits a driving hook/runner to pull LCC to within two points. I believe that Mott turned the ball over here. By the time I looked up from my notes, LCC was inbounding the ball. Sometimes, the aging Bleacher Denizen does not keep up. This game is pretty fast-paced. Enough about my early signs of senility! Armond Williams steals the ball for Mott. J.D. Rawls follows up a missed Bear fast break layup with a putback that gives Mott a 53-49 lead.

LCC misses a jump shot. Kelvin Balfour blocks an LCC putback. Mott misses a shot. Kelvin Balfour steals the ball and hits a fast break layup for the Bears. Armond Williams steals a Star pass. Mott misses a fast break layup. Armond Williams hits a putback for the Bears. LCC is fouled, but misses the first shot of a one and one free throw opportunity. With 11:36 remaining in the contest, Mott has a 57-49 lead.

Cole Krause gets the offensive rebound of the missed free throw for LCC. LCC misses a layup. Mott mislaunches a threeball from the corner. Tyshan Kelley pulls up over some solid Bear defense and drains a three point shot from the wing for LCC. Savieon Williams passes to Josiah Hammons, who strokes a sixteen foot shot from the side for Mott. Drew Lowder hits a twelve foot shot from the wing for LCC. Jailin Lee passes to Andre Bradford for a Mott layup. Zhervonte Smith is fouled on a driving banked hook shot and hits one of his two free throws for LCC. (I believe the first free throw actually went in, but was taken back because of a lane violation.) Mott leads 61-55 with 9:42 to go.

Savieon Williams passes to Connor Bush, who is cutting to the basket for a layup. He is fouled on the play, but misses his free throw. LCC misses a three point shot from the wing. Derrick Bryant inbounds the ball to Josiah Hammons, who sinks a three point shot from the top of the key for Mott. Drew Lowder picks up a loose ball to prevent a Star turnover and hits a ten foot shot from the side of the lane. Mott misses a three point shot from the wing. LCC misses a layup. Connor Bush blocks a Star putback. Derrick Bryant passes to Connor Bush, who catches the ball with one hand and hits a dunk all in one motion to boost Mott to a 68-58 lead.

Drew Lowder passes to Sean Cobb, who is fouled on a layup and hits one of his two free throws for LCC. Savieon Williams passes to Connor Bush, who is fouled before he can shoot. He hits two shots of a one and one free throw opportunity to give Mott a 72059 lead with 6:22 left on the clock.

LCC drives from the side, but misses a layup. Connor Bush blocks a Star putback. LCC gets the ball back, but misses a layup. Tyshan Kelley steals the ball for the Stars. LCC misses a three point shot from the wing. Cole Krause hits a putback for LCC. Mott is fouled, but misses the first shot of a one and one free throw opportunity. Cole Krause makes an alert and athletic save of a bad pass for LCC. He passes to Drew Lowder, who hits a three point shot the wing for the Stars. Drew Lowder passes the ball to Zhervonte Smith, who hits a three point shot from the wing to chop the Mott lead to 72-67.

Mott commits a charging foul. LCC misses a three point shot from the corner. Mott misses an eight foot turnaround shot from the baseline. Drew Lowder has to lean back so far on his jumper that he falls to the floor, but he hits a long three point attempt past the top of the key to bring LCC to within two points at 72-70.

Tyshan Keller gets his hand on the ball and a Mott dribbler loses it out of bounds. LCC misses a fifteen foot baseline fallaway shot. Mott misses a fifteen foot shot from the wing. Zhervonte Smith is fouled bringing the ball up and makes two free throws for Lansing to tie the game at 72-72 with 2:33 left in the game.

Kelvin Balfour drives from the top of the key and hits a layup for Mott. On the other end, Kelvin Balfour draws a charging foul from the Stars. Mott misses a three point shot from the top of the key. The rebound goes out of bounds and LCC takes possession. LCC misses a driving five footer from the side of the lane. Josiah Hammons passes to Kelvin Balfour, who drives into some fierce defense and fights to make his layup to give Mott a 76-72 lead.

Josiah Hammons dives and knocks the ball out of bounds. LCC retains possession. (There are 35.8 seconds left at this point.) LCC misses a three point shot from the wing. Andre Bradford is fouled on the rebound and makes two free throws to put Mott on top by the score of 78-72 with 23.2 seconds to go.

LCC misses a long three point shot from the wing. Andre Bradford is fouled on the rebound and hits two free throws for Mott. LCC misses a three point shot from the wing. The rebound goes out of bounds and Mott gets the ball. LCC steals Mott’s final inbounds pass. Josiah Hammons blocks LCC’s heave at the final buzzer.

Mott wins this game 80-72 to remain undefeated.

Lansing Community College’s Drew Lowder had 27 points to lead all scorers. Tyshan Kelley supported his teammate with 16 points. Zhervonte Smith added 12 points and Sean Cobb scored 11. Cole Krause put in 6 points.

Andre Bradford led the victorious Mott team with 17 points. Josiah Hammons and Connor Bush each contributed 11 points. Kelvin Balfour and Savieon Williams each scored 10 points. Armond Williams and J.D. Rawls each added 8 points. Jailin Lee put in 3 points and Austin Roland had 2 points.