The Santa Rosa Junior College Men’s basketball team narrowly defeated Sacramento City College 71-10, on Tuesday at Haehl Pavilion.
SRJC (15-3) got off to a slow start but picked up the pace throughout the game. With the win, the Bear Cubs remained undefeated in conference play at 6-0 and won their ninth straight overall.
Bear Cubs’ coach Craig McMilan finds that despite being on a winning streak, there is still room to improve.
“To improve from where we are, we need to improve our defensive rebounding. We can’t keep giving up as many second shots as we have,’ said McMillan
Sacramento (7-12) played aggressively and brought the heat to Haehl. They carried a consistent lead throughout the first half. The Sacramento defense stuck to the Bear Cubs’ like glue, and held SRJC to 11 points through the first 14 minutes.
With five minutes left in the first half, trailing 25-11, SRJC began to heat up. Freshmen Jaden Washington and Gavin Cook-Whisenton added seven points collectively. Freshman Spencer Langowski went on a one man rampage and scored 10 straight in just three minutes. Langowski punctuated the drive with a steal at half court followed by an and-one layup.
Despite the Bear Cubs’ run, Sacramento’s Panthers didn’t slow their scoring, ending the first half with a 38-28 lead.
Whatever plagued SRJC’s first half vanished in the second half with Washington, Langowski, and freshman Vincent Jackson pouring in shots and leading the comebacks. The crowd and the bench fed into the team’s performance and created an electric atmosphere.
“Our offense improved in the second half because we attacked the paint more aggressively and did settle for contested perimeter shots,” said McMillan.
The stretch culminated in a 57-60 lead through 10 minutes in the second half.
Upon reaching 71 points, the Bear Cubs’ scoring went stagnant for the final minutes of the match. Sacramento slowly narrowed the gap, putting the Bear Cubs on the defensive.
With just over seven seconds remaining, Sacramento gave SRJC a final scare and made a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 71-70.
With mere seconds on the clock, Sacramento regained control over the ball but ultimately ended up missing the final shot, giving the win to the Bear Cubs.
The Bear Cubs will take their six-game win streak into their next game against Modesto on Friday, Jan. 17 at Haehl Pavilion.
