Foul-Filling
Amber Guerrero | Multimedia Editor
Despite many fouls, men's basketball wins first game of the season.
On Thursday, Nov. 2, the SMC Corsairs men’s basketball team played against the Pasadena City College Lancers at Corsair Gym. The Corsairs claimed a surprising 77-73 victory, but they faced many challenges during the game that kept the score close.
The first half started off with the Lancers in the lead, but the Corsairs caught up with a mix of skilled shots, free throws from fouls, and power forward Elijah Scranton’s scoring run of the team’s first 10 points. As if it were an omen, this set a pattern for most of the game — both teams scored a number of points from free throws, with the Lancers making 25 and the Corsairs 15 from the charity stripe. By the end of the first 20 minutes, the score was nearly tied at 38-37 in the Lancers’ favor.
For the majority of the second half, the Corsairs had a promising lead. While fouls still troubled both teams, they resulted in a few free throws that contributed to the Corsairs’ advantage. The Corsairs’ lead was up to 57-46, but this quickly closed when the team earned three technical fouls, two of which were by small forward MJ Johnson, which resulted in the Lancers earning seven points from consecutive free throws and surpassing the Corsairs’, 61-59 with eight minutes left.
The Corsairs kept pushing, helped from three-point shots by center Jahveon Medearis and shooting guard Brooklyn Caldwell, and brought the score to 75-73 with only 23 seconds to spare. At eight seconds on the clock, Medearis finished it off with two additional free throws, bringing the final score to 77-73.
With all the setbacks that the Corsairs faced, especially in the second half, the victory was unexpected. “It was anybody’s game. The technical fouls really hurt us … but we were able to fight through. Our players played hard. They showed very good discipline and executed the plan, so it worked out very well for us,” said Corsair Athletic Director Reggie Ellis.
Head Coach Joshua Thomas also commended the team’s discipline. “I thought the game would be close, as it was today. I was just glad our guys were able to pull out the victory and stay disciplined,” he said. He also commented on the amount of fouls, saying the trouble was understandable, but he’s optimistic that the Corsairs will overcome it.
“We have to do a better job of not using our hands and just being disciplined. But it’s the first game of the season, so there’s a lot of nerves and there’s getting used to how the referees call the game. I think over time, we hopefully can improve in that area,” he said.
