Razorsharks Best Lake Michigan For Third Time

The Rochester RazorSharks finished their week long road trip undefeated as they defeated the Lake Michigan Admirals on back-to-back days, capping off Sunday with a 113-106 victory at Michigan  Lutheran High School in St. Joseph, Michigan.

Rochester used a second quarter surge to take the lead and did not look back, as key free throws down the stretch help preserve the win.

“Championship teams make their free throws,” said Jerice Crouch, who finished with 16 points, seven rebounds, and four assists. “You have to execute the free throws to close the games out if you want to win.” Crouch went 7/8 from the free throw line in the game.

Assistant Coach Chris Iversen was pleased with the performance of Todd McCoy off the bench. McCoy missed three games earlier this season due to an ankle injury.

“I’m just trying to get my rhythm back,” said McCoy. “I have not been aggressive enough since I came back [from the injury] and have let things come to me, which is not the way I play. I have more confidence in my ankle, so I just need to keep being aggressive.” McCoy finished the day with 13 points.

In yesterday’s first half, Rochester struggled to rebound against Lake Michigan and emphasized the importance of rebounding both in the second half and in all of today’s game.

“We continued to fight for every rebound down the stretch against a very good rebounding team,” said Iversen. “But overall we still gave up too many offensive rebounds to them. It’s still something to work on.“ Jamaal Davis, Eric Walton, and Crouch tied for the team lead with seven rebounds.

“Its important to crash the boards hard every time,” said Davis, who had a team high 18 points to go with his team high seven rebounds. “You have to put your body into it and limit them to one shot.”

Lake Michigan forward Florentino Valencia had another big game against Rochester, as he finished with 20 points and a game high 15 rebounds. Teammate Odgra Bobo had a game high 26 points, while Courtney Blackmore and Rodney Alexander finished with 16 and 14 points, respectively. Both players also had nine rebounds.

Other leaders for Rochester include Melvin Council with seven points and six assists, Johnny Mayhane and Brandon Webster, who both finished with nine points and five rebounds, Aaron Williams with 12 points and Demetrius Howard with 10 points. All five of these players came off the bench.

With 5:46 left in the first quarter, Keith Friel scored on a fast break and was assisted by Crouch, making Crouch only the second RazorShark to have 400 career assists in a Rochester uniform, with the first being Lazarus Sims, who finished his RazorShark career with 435. During Saturday’s game, Crouch played in his 100th career game as a RazorShark, also second all time behind Friel’s 159 games.

“I’m in elite company,” said Crouch. “The best part of these accomplishments is the winning the team has done while I have been here.”

Rochester looks to continue its winning ways with another road game as they travel back to Ohio to play Dayton on February 8th.