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ACC still searching for that first win

A rough season just continues to get rougher for the Alpena Community College men’s basketball team.

The Lumberjacks have yet to win a game this season and weren’t successful in their latest attempt on Saturday, losing 90-53 to Delta at Park Arena.

The loss dropped the Lumberjacks to 0-13 and marked the 10th time this season ACC has lost by at least 25 points.

Though they kept pace with the Pioneers early, the Lumberjacks eventually fell victim to the same things that have been plaguing them all season. They were outrebounded, outhustled, outscored and outworked.

Against an inspired Delta squad, the Lumberjacks simply couldn’t keep up.

“I think for the most part (the reason we won) it was intensity. We came here (tonight with) our sophomore Mason VanPamel from Hillman (and) we we all wanted to win for him tonight,” Delta coach Carlos McMath said. “He’s a great guy and I think we came in focused and played harder than we have in the past. Mainly for him to send him out the right way.”

VanPamel, a former basketball star for Hillman, scored just four points in Delta’s win, but provided more than enough inspiration for his team to shoulder the scoring load. Trey Newsham and Virgil Walker led the Pioneers with 19 points each and Devin Smith and Jonathan Swift added 15 and 11 points respectively.

With scoring coming easily, the Pioneers ran out to a 49-27 lead at halftime. ACC found a groove early in the second half to cut Delta’s lead to 18, but the Lumberjacks sputtered to the end of the game from there.

With a 56-38 lead in hand, the Pioneers went on a 14-0 run to put ACC further behind. Despite making occasional shots, ACC continued to struggle offensively and was held to nine points in the final seven minutes.

Trenton LaVergne led ACC with 15 points with many of those coming in the first half and Donovan Middleton added 10.

McMath praised ACC’s determination and thought the Lumberjacks responded well against Delta’s defense.

“(They had) a lot of fight as usual. They fought hard and they hit a lot of good open shots. I think they didn’t get as rattled with our press and they just missed shots,” McMath said. “We gave them good opportunities in the first half and they just missed.”

The Lumberjacks matched Delta’s intensity to open the game, but fell behind quickly. Holding a tentative 6-5 lead, the Lumberjacks watched Delta go on a nine-point run to seize control of the contest. A pair of three-pointers from LaVergne and Timothy Hopkins cut the lead to 31-21 with 5:17 left in the half, but Delta took off again and dominated the remainder of the period, limiting ACC to free throws.

The Lumberjacks host Lake Superior State University’s JV team tonight.

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DELTA (90): T. Newsham 6 2-3 19; V. Walker 7 5-9 19; M. VanPamel 1 2-2 4; J. Swift 2 6-10 11; J. Thomason 1 0-0 2; D. Smith 7 1-2 15; J. Thomann 2 3-3 7; T. Wilson 2 0-0 4; A. Wheeler 0 1-2 1; D. Allen 2 0-0 4; A. Miller 1 1-2 4.

ACC (53): T. Hopkins 2 2-2 8; T. LaVergne 2 10-10 15; J. Pierrelus 0 2-4 2; D. Ross 1 2-2 4; D. Middleton 3 4-4 10; M. Stuart 1 0-0 3; D. Tucker 0 1-2 1; K. Adams 2 0-0 6; G. Burton 1 0-1 2; P. Gomes 0 0-2 0; H. Sullivan 1 0-0 2.

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