Pasadena lances through Saddleback in playoffs
Pasadena’s Adrian Miles successfully shoots both his foul shots to put the Lancers ahead by a four-point lead, 53-49 final.
Photo by Adam Kolvites
Saddleback head coach Andy Ground gets loud with his team during a timeout. Photo by Adam Kolvites
Faces of happiness and despair, Pasadena moves on to round three will knocking out Saddleback of playoffs. Photo by Adam Kolvites
An 11-point comeback by Pasadena City College late in the second half against Saddleback College ended 53-49, in the second round of the 2014 CCCAA Men’s Basketball Southern California Regional Championships, March 1.
The game came down to the last seconds of the game Lancer forward, Rashad Smith said, “Man like a lot of games that we had in the past we just had to keep our composure. Take every possession seriously on defense, get our stops and rebounds.”
Pasadena even started the game off to a 11-point lead in the first five minutes when they were leading 13-4.
The Gauchos eventually evened the score 19-19 with 2:35 on the clock in the first half, holding the lead by the break 24-22.
After halftime Saddleback widened their lead to 11, 37-26, until the Lancers started their comeback half way through the half starting with Jevon Shields 3-pointer, 37-29, 11:32 left.Pasadena’s forward Bryce Clifton then scored a jump shot after being fouled by Gaucho guard Rashad Davis and made the free throw for another Pasadena point, 37-32. Lancer guard Rashad Smith stole the ball on the next possession then passed it to guard Brandon Joseph who assisted guard Adrian Miles for another Pasadena 3-pointer, the score now 37-35.
The Gauchos then received the ball on a turnover where forward Eric Thompson made a layup, 39-35. After the successful layup Thompson got back on defense a blocked a layup by Clifton rebounded by fellow forward Andre McPhail, followed by an unsuccessful 3-pointer by guard DJ Feitl. Rebounded by Pasadena for another successful drive for a jump shot by Clifton, 39-37.
On the next drive Gaucho McPhail was fouled on a offensive rebound and was able to shoot two free throws, making one, 40-37. Pasadena answered back on the next drive, Smith made a layup, 40-39.
After two unsuccessful drives from both teams the Gauchos guard Dalante Dunklin was fouled on the shot by Lancer’s Smith, he only made one foul shot, 41-39. While on the second shot Dunklin went to rebound the ball but turned it over to Pasadena who made a layup to tie the game, 41-41.
Pasadena and Saddleback went back and forth with scores until the final minute, Saddleback held the lead, 49-48, with 1:15 left in the game.
After a few offensive mistakes by the Gauchos, Pasadena’s point guard Jeffrey Dockett made a jump shot to put the Lancers ahead 50-49, their first lead since the first half. Dockett was also fouled by Dunklin earning him a foul shot, Dockett made the shot, the score now 51-49 with only 28 seconds left.
Gaucho Dunklin then missed a jump shot on the next drive rebounded by Lancer’s Miles, who was then fouled by Fietl followed by a team timeout with two seconds left in the game. Miles made both foul shots which brought the game to an end after a desperation 3-pointer by Gaucho Davis, final score 53-49.
Pasadena head coach Michael Swanegan, “I thought the kids played hard. I thought we came in here with a game plan, we just needed to execute it and we got some great style at the end of the ball game when we executed.” With the playoffs on the line and less than a minute left in the game, Swanegan said, “Very intense, it could have gone either way. We just got a break or two here but they could have gotten the same break and could have won the ball game. My hats off to Saddleback, they’re a great team and we were just able to overcome them tonight.”
PCC will face Chaffey College March 5, in the third round of the playoffs. Chaffey beat San Diego City College 80-76 today in their second round match up.
With this loss the Gauchos end their season 24-6.
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