Glen Oaks moves on to district semifinals

In front of the home crowd Tuesday in a NJCAA Great Lakes District A quarterfinal game  against Lake Michigan College, the Glen Oaks Community College men's basketball team found another gear late in the second half to earn a 75-67 victory. 

Glen Oaks (18-10) will move on to Friday's semifinals at Mott Community College in Flint, where it will face Hocking (21-6) at 4 p.m.

With Tuesday's contest still very much in doubt with a little over eight minutes to play and the Vikings holding only a two-point lead, Tylan Harris buried a contested 3-pointer that sparked an 18-4 run that changed the game. Following that triple, Daivion Boleware scored in the paint and Tyler Swanwick knocked down a big 3-pointer to give the Vikings their first double-digit lead of the game. 

Swanick would hit another trey and Boleware and Lavonta Ash threw down dunks for a 67-53 advantage with 4:02 left in the game. Darrius Roach scored on back-to-back layups and Harris and Boleware both made a pair of free throws down the stretch to seal the win. 

"First half we kind of sputtered a little bit," Glen Oaks head coach Mike Elliott said. "And in the second half, let's worry about stops. Offensively it will come. It just comes out of the energy from the defense."

In the first half, it was a defensive battle as LMC, which came back from an 8-1 deficit to start the game to take a 12-10 lead, kept within striking distance. A 3-pointer by Jasiah Rainey cut Glen Oaks' lead to 32-29 before the break. 

Boleware led Glen Oaks with 21 points and 16 rebounds. Ash produced 13 points and seven boards, and Derek Anderson, Harris and Swanwick each poured in 11 points. Roach finished with six points and Shane Handlon had two. Roach also grabbed six boards, while Handlon pulled down five. Harris and Roach both finished with two steals, and Swanwick, Harris, Roach and Ash all had three assists. 

"I was proud of those guys," Elliott said. "It was the last game for those sophomores here at Glen Oaks. What a way to go out. It's about seven guys that are willing to go out and execute a game plan and do it together. They are doing everything they can do to make this thing happen. I'm so elated. Those guys are fighting like crazy. They do it together. I love these guys."