The Santa Rosa Junior College men’s basketball team picked up its second straight double-digit win, following a 95-68 win over American River College with a 86-67 win over San Joaquin Delta College at home on Friday.
Santa Rosa, ranked No. 23 in CCCAA, are now 8-1 in conference and 17-4 overall. In the Big 8 conference, the Bear Cubs continue to trail No. 9 Modesto Junior College (9-0).
Santa Rosa’s game plan focused on shooting from behind the arc and controlling the glass.
“Rebounding has been a problem for us this whole season,” SRJC Head coach Craig McMillan said. “We have been working hard to box out and rebound better. We have made some strides but we need to continue our improvement. We need to do a better job of defending the three-point line. We are trying to do a better job there.”
The first half was like clockwork for SRJC; the ball constantly made its way around, causing San Joaquin to fall behind. For a majority of the half SRJC held a consistent ten point lead.
“McMillan always encourages us to look for better shots by moving the ball around. We have a lot of good players who can score but we have the most success when we play as a team,” freshman forward Audon Forgus said.
Throughout the half Santa Rosa eased its way through San Joaquin’s defense. The Bear Cubs primarily scored from mid-range, but occasionally rushed the paint.
San Joaquin Delta chipped away at the SRJC lead towards the end of the half, closing the gap to 37-32 going into halftime.
The Bear Cubs kept up the dominance on the boards in the second half, led by freshmen forward Audon Forgus and guard Gavin Cook-Whisenton.
Santa Rosa freshmen guard Spencer Langowski and forward Vincent Jackson opened up the second half scoring with shots from downtown, immediately raising the Bear Cubs lead to 42-37. Sophomore guard Andrew Pengel also played from mid-range with a total of 11 field goals and 27 points overall.
In the final minutes, sophomore guard Yanik Anderson and Forgus attacked the hoop for a total of four points, leaving the final score at 86-67 Bear Cubs.
With a month of conference left, the Bear Cubs are struggling to find time to practice.
“We haven’t had a lot of time in between our games recently so our practices have been more focused on scouting other teams,” Forgus said. “We have a week until [Diablo Valley College] so we need to take that time to focus on improving as a team.”
The Bear Cubs will be back in action at Diablo Valley College on Friday Jan. 31 before returning home to Haehl Pavilion on Tuesday, Feb. 4.
