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Henry Ford runs by ACC in second half

News Photo by James Andersen ACC guard Michael Stuart, 22, drives in for a shot as Henry Ford's Kevin Rice during the first half of a men's basketball game on Saturday at Park Arena.

The Alpena Community College men’s basketball team did all the right things for 28 minutes on Saturday.

The remaining 12 minutes? That turned out to be a different story as the Lumberjacks faltered down the stretch and were ultimately defeated by Henry Ford 95-74 at Park Arena.

ACC (1-18, 0-14 MCCAA Eastern) trailed by just two, 58-56, with 12 minutes left after Michael Stuart scored. But in the remaining time the Lumberjacks succumbed to all the things that have hurt them over the course of the season; namely too many turnovers and too many bad shots, both coming as a result of inconsistency on offense.

“We continue not to run our offense. We had 30 turnovers and 24 rebounds. That tells you what our season (has been) like,” ACC coach Frank McCourt said. “Our inside game doesn’t exist.”

Over the final 12 minutes, Henry Ford steamrolled ACC, outscoring the Lumberjacks 37-18. Henry Ford attacked from all over the floor, knocking down three-pointers, slashing inside for buckets and hitting free throws. After Stuart’s basket, the Hawks went on a 13-3 run to take a double digit lead for the first time on the night, 71-59, with 8:32 left.

ACC cut the lead to 10 shortly after, but the Hawks responded by scoring the next eight points to effectively put the game out of reach.

The Hawks hit nine three-pointers in the win, including six in the second half.

John Merriweather led Henry Ford with 34 points and was one of five Henry Ford players to finish in double figures. Matthew Eldridge added 14, DeMarcus Wilson had 13, Diangelo Carlton added 12 and Jon Swagerty had 10.

It was a disappointing ending for the Lumberjacks, who trailed by just two at halftime and stayed within striking distance before falling apart late.

“Instead of picking and rolling, we’re picking and popping,” McCourt said. “(The message at halftime was to) come out and play with intensity and we didn’t.”

Trenton LaVergne led ACC with 27 points and Stuart added 22. Timothy Hopkins chipped in with 11.

For the first 10 minutes of the first half, ACC played perhaps one of its best stretches of the season. The Lumberjacks led by as many as 11 with LaVergne and Stuart helping spot ACC a 17-6 lead with 13:46 left before halftime. In contrast to the second half, the Lumberjacks knocked down shots with ease, forced turnovers, snatched up rebounds and generally played all-around good basketball.

The Lumberjacks couldn’t sustain the effort however and the Hawks clawed right back into the game with a run midway through the half that saw them pull ahead 24-22 with 8:17 left. Henry Ford forced several turnovers and converted those chances to close the once sizable gap.

“The minute we play good for 10 minutes (and) we get into some kind of flow, we get casual, especially when we pick and pop,” McCourt said. ”

For the rest of the half, neither team led by more than four points. A late scoring burst allowed the Hawks to pull ahead before halftime, but Stuart hit a shot in the final minute to make it 39-37 at the break.

ACC stayed close with the Hawks early in the second half, but couldn’t ever pull into the lead again. An early triple from LaVergne made it 43-42, but the Hawks answered with a trey. Hopkins drained a three-pointer with 14 minutes left to make it 56-54, but again the Hawks answered, this time with two free throws. Stuart’s bucket cut the lead to two again, but the Hawks had an answer again.

A three-pointer from Stuart cut into Henry Ford’s lead with 10 and a half minutes to play to bring ACC to within four, but it did little to slow the Hawks who continued to roll on both ends of the floor.

ACC hosts Mott on Monday for its final home game of the season.

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HENRY FORD (95): D. Carlton 5 1-2 12; J. Merriweather 12 4-4 34; M. Eldridge 6 2-2 14; J. Swagerty 4 2-3 10; D. Wilson 6 0-3 13; J. Cargile 2 1-5 5; D. Barnett 3 0-1 7.

ACC (74): T. LaVergne 12 0-0 27; T. Hopkins 4 0-0 11; M. Stuart 8 3-3 22; D. Tucker 1 0-0 3; G. Burton 1 0-0 2; K. Adams 1 0-0 2; D. Ross 1 0-1 2; P. Gomes 1 0-0 2; N. Skiba 1 0-0 3.

James Andersen can be reached via email at sports@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5694. Follow James on Twitter @ja_alpenanews.

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