After a 94-80 win against Folsom Lake (3-12) in the last home game and a 106-60 loss to Modesto (15-0) in the most recent away game the Santa Rosa Junior College men’s basketball team (21-6) is second in conference going into the final game of the regular season.
Head coach Craig McMillan reflected on the win against Folsom Lake on Friday, Feb. 14.
“Under the circumstances, I thought we played pretty well,” he said. “It was a pretty busy week having to go to Rocklin Tuesday, Sacramento Thursday, and then play at home against Folsom Lake on Friday, especially since Folsom had a bye on Thursday.”
The men’s basketball team started off strong against Folsom Lake, matching the Falcons basket for basket in the opening minutes of the first half.
SRJC freshman forwards Vincent Jackson and Jaden Washington went to work early, each making two of the six initial baskets for the Bear Cubs. After starting out back-and-forth Folsom Lake took the lead in the first period when freshman wing Mikey Simonyan sank his second three-pointer of the night, making the score 17-14.
The Falcons would go on a scoring run before sophomore Bear Cubs guard Andrew Pengel sank two 3-pointers, along with a score from Washington to tie the game 27-27.
The Bear Cubs struggled to regain momentum and came out of the first half trailingFolsom Lake, 35-38.
SRJC came out from half time with determination. Jackson and freshman guard Spencer Langowksi traded buckets in the early minutes of the second half in an attempt to catch up to the Falcons.
The Bear Cubs finally took hold when freshman forward Audon Forgus put up a mid-range jumper to finally secure the lead against Folsom Lake, 48-47.
Folsom Lake struggled to keep up as SRJC stayed hot in the second half. With 10:35 left, sophomore guard Yanik Anderson picked up two straight steals followed by transition scores, making the score 69-56.
After calling a timeout and regrouping after the two turnovers, the Falcons would score three straight before the Bear Cubs responded with a 13-2 run..
The Bear Cubs secured the 94-80 win. Pengel had a stellar night with a game-high of 27 points and 10 rebounds.
Strong performances from the freshman class included Langowski with 18 points, Washington with 16 points, Jackson with 13 points and five rebounds, and Gavin Cook-Whisenton with 12 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.
Most recently, the men’s team travelled to Modesto to play against the Pirates who remained undefeated at 15-0, and hold the top spot in the Big 8 conference. The Bear Cubs suffered a loss at the hand of the Pirates on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 106-60.
Going into the playoffs, Pengel says the team is preparing to leave it all on the court.
“We just have high expectations and I’m gonna do whatever it takes to win. If that’s scoring [points] or just playing as a team, we have high goals,” Pengel said.
The Santa Rosa Junior College men’s basketball team will take to home court for their final regular season matchup against American River College at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 21 in Haehl Pavilion.
