Weekend Wrap-Up MBK: Tops take both games at Pioneer Tip-Off, Move to 3-0

The men's team faced a war of attrition during game 1 of the Pioneer Tip-Off Classic being held at Delta College in Michigan. The Wildcats of Wayne County Community College looked as if they were gearing up to hand the Tops their first defeat.  The Cats jumped all over the good guys and went to the locker rooms with a 45-35 lead.  Coach Aaron Nixon fired the team up at halftime and the Tops outscored Wayne 44-28 in the second half to come from behind and win the game 79-73. 

Devin Haid was a big reason for the comeback as he scored all of his 21 points in the 2nd half.  He connected on 7 of his 11 shots and sank all his free throws (7/7). Tyishawn Smiley again was impressive with his 2nd double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds while connecting on 5 of 9 from the floor.  Point guard Manny Hill continued his solid play throughout and pitched in with 20 points while shooting 50% from deep (3/6). The Tops cut down on their turnovers and controlled the second half with poise and confidence as they improved to 2-0.

The Sunday game of the tournament pitted the Tops taking on host Delta College and this time Tri-C left no doubt who the better team was.  They led by 15 at the break (40-25) and cruised to a 96-78 victory to move to 3-0 on the young season.  Leading the way again was Devin Haid with 22 points and 8 rebounds.  Smiley chipped in 13 while Hill also has 12.  Jordan Persad had 11 points.  The big story however was the bench play, as Jamail Spivey came off the bench to scorer 20 points, going 7-11 including 4 of 6 from three point range.  Nekhi Smith also came of the bench to have a double digit scoring game with 11 points and added 6 boards.

The Tops next travel to Community College of Beaver County where they will take on the host school on Friday at 5 pm and play Penn State-Beaver on Saturday at 1 pm.