Matt Crosson
The Pierce College men’s basketball team lost 101-98 in overtime to the L.A. Trade-Technical College Beavers on Friday in a game they seemed to control.
The Brahmas were up by four points with less than a minute to go when the team unity, inexplicably, fell apart.
There was a confrontation between two players on the bench that became so intense they had to be physically separated. As a result their team defense suffered.
Tech pulled within three with five seconds left. Tech guard Derrick Hankins took the ball the length of the court and hit a miracle three-pointer at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.
The Beavers never looked back, defeating the Brahmas 101-98 in overtime.
“We didn’t come together as a team at the end,” said starting point guard Dwain Hicks. “We have a lot of people who haven’t played with each other that much.”
The Brahmas had the lead almost the entire game and dominated on both sides of the court.
Their superior size and strength was evident in their dominance of the offensive and defensive glass by forwards Camel Drummond, Yancy Clark and Sam Furr. Team chemistry proved to be their Achille’s heel.
“If the chemistry on the team is messed up, we’re not going to play good at all,” said Drummond, who had a game-high 30 points.
Head coach Ed Babayan was particularly disappointed with the team’s performance at the end of the game.
“We’re not doing a good job of playing basketball the way we’ve practiced,” he said..
Pierce had a five-point lead at the half and kept the led for most of the second half until Tech began using traps and full-court press defense to stifle the Brahmas’ offense.
Babayan went on to discuss “mental breakdowns,” “chemistry mistakes,”and “bad decisions with the basketball”.
A technical foul called on Furr, for arguing with the referee, gave the Beavers two free throws and its first lead of the game.
The Brahmas looked frustrated and dejected. The argument on the bench and the shot to send it to overtime sealed their fate.
The Brahmas played hard in the five-minute overtime, but the great ball movement and team play was not there.
The loss dropped the Brahmas to 2-6 on the season.
Though it was a disappointing loss for the Brahmas, there are several bright spots on the team. Multi-talented guard Leon Jacob had 17 points and showed his consummate skills on both ends of the floor.
Late in the first half, he picked the ball from a Tech guard and took it the distance of the floor for a one-handed jam.
Vocal leader Julio Marshall poured in 15 points despite being hampered by a leg injury and Clark showed his ability to rebound and score.
Drummond was the most impressive. He showed his immense strength and power in the paint, as well as a deceptive quickness that is rarely seen in players his size (6’6″, 260+). He is also very optimistic about the future.
“We have so much talent,” said Drummond. “People need to learn their roles… and we’ll be O.K. for conference play.”
Conference play, in the WSC North, begins for the Brahmas on Jan. 4 against Oxnard College at Pierce.
The Brahmas will be competing in the San Diego Mesa College tournament this weekend.