After a back and forth game between the Pierce College Brahmas and the Santa Monica Corsairs, the Corsairs emerged victorious as the final buzzer sounded. The Pierce men’s basketball team lost to Santa Monica with a score of 78-70 on Nov. 15.
As the jump ball concluded, the Brahmas went to go on a 10–0 run against the Corsairs, giving them momentum early on in the game. After a timeout by Santa Monica and a three pointer by their point guard Mike Hill, the Corsairs went on a 8-0 run themselves and brought their deficit to only two.
From that point on, the two teams went back and forth with a 35-37 score, in favor of the Brahmas.
With the second half on its way, Brahma small forward Taveon Brown believed that the Brahma offense and defense wasn’t at its best.
“We couldn’t hit any shots coming through the second half.” Brown said. “We could have rebounded a little better, and our defense wasn’t up to par with what it should have been.”
Competition continued in the second half.
With a minute of game left to go, the score was sitting at 72-70, with Santa Monica taking the lead.
The Brahmas had the ball, and after a timeout and two substitutions, Pierce guard Lawrence Caudillo attempted a mid range shot and missed, with the rebound going to the Corsairs. After grabbing the ball and running down the court, Santa Monica guard Sage Church responded with a mid range of his own, and hit the shot making the score 74-70, with only 27 seconds left in the game.
With no other option, Pierce intentionally fouled Santa Monica forward Joshua Middlebrooks, sending him to the free throw line, where he hit both of his shots, making it a six-point game.
Pierce Head Coach Charles White called a timeout with eight seconds left in the game, and drew up a play for a three point shot, to keep them in the game.
As the time out ended, and both teams set up for the play, the ball went into the hands of Pierce guard Paul Harris, where he got an open look to the basket, and missed his three-point shot.
The Brahmas again intentionally fouled Santa Monica, where Middlebrooks was again sent to the line, and scored his shots, making the game 78-70.
Despite the loss, assistant coach Mike Farmer said the Brahmas were a better team this game, than the last time they played against Santa Monica.
“We lost by maybe six or seven, I think it was,” Farmer said. “When we first played them in the scrimmage, we lost by 25 so we held the lead, we held our own, and we’re a better team than we were when we first played them.
It was a competitive game between the Corsairs and the Brahmas, and assistant coach Ryan Rubino believes that, just like against Santa Monica, Pierce is going to keep playing aggressively.
“We’re going to play extremely hard and give our best to every team that faces us.” Rubino states. “And every team that we play is going to have to earn their win against us.”
The Brahmas will be on the road on Wednesday, Nov. 20 to play against El Camino College, looking to earn their first win of the season.
