Last season, the Pasadena City College men's basketball team finished 5-1 in crossover contests against the South Division of the South Coast Conference. So far, the Lancers are 2-1 in such games, including Wednesday's 77-53 rout at El Camino College. It was the Lancers largest margin of victory in their eight wins during the 2023-24 campaign.
PCC (8-7 overall record) actually trailed 36-34 at halftime and didn't break away v. the Warriors (6-9) until the final nine minutes.
El Camino seemed poised to keep the game close when Gavin Butterfield sank a 3-pointer that cut a slim Lancers advantage to 51-49. PCC's defense then started a monster 26-4 run that iced the victory.
After Dylan Swillis hit a layup, Jalyn White made a steal that led to two free throws by Swillis. On the next possession, Myles Watkins made another steal and buried a dunk and then added a layup. A Jalen Vazquez steal led to another dunk, this time by Swillis. The 6-foot-5 wing forced another ECC turnover that led to a Barry Knight layup.
The onslaught continued with a Swillis basket followed by a relentless PCC possession on the offensive boards. Deen Abdur-Rahmann capped a sequence of three straight follow-up tips by the squad as he tapped in yet another basket.
Watkins immediately forced another takeaway that allowed Swillis to make a thundering slam. The dunk-a-thon kept going with yet another Swillis offensive rebound and jam as PCC scored 20 unanswered points to hold a commanding 71-49 lead. The Lancers defense kept ECC off the scoreboard for seven minutes during the spurt.
When the dust settled, Swillis finished with his season-high 22 points, 16 in the second half, plus a game-high five steals. Abdur-Rahmann made 8-for-11 from the floor to match his season best of 20 points with six rebounds. Watkins chipped in 17 points, four steals and two blocks while Vazquez, the team's point guard, tallied five points, eight assists and three steals.
Off the bench, Knight scored eight points while White was a rebounding force with 12 boards and five points.
On Jan. 5, Shant Chenorhavorian made five 3s as part of his team-high 17 points but host Cerritos handed the Lancers a 74-66 defeat. PCC placed five players in double figures in scoring behind 12 each by Swillis (and six rebounds, three blocks) and Abdur-Rahmann, 11 and five assists by Watkins, and 10 by Knight.
Swillis cut a 13-point Falcons lead to four, 66-62, with a minute left but Cerritos closed it out with four late free throws.
PCC opened the new year on Jan. 3 at Hutto-Patterson Gymnasium with the team's highest scoring performance of the season in an 85-66 triump over Long Beach City College.
In that win, Watkins led the way on 20 points, six rebounds, five assists and five steals. Abdur-Rahmann added 17 points, Swillis recorded a double-double on 15 points and 12 boards, Vazquez contributed 15 points, and Chenorhavorian totaled eight points, five rebounds and five assists.
Reserves Kaiden Fine (four points and three rebounds) and John Parmeter-Zapata (two points, three boards) took advantage of their brief minutes.
On Dec. 30, state #7-ranked Mt. San Jacinto proved too much for the unrated Lancers, 102-77, despite 22 points by Watkins. The Eagles' duo of Dasean Stevens and Isiah Shirley combined for 54 points, including 10 long-range 3s. MSJC shot more than 50 percent from beyond the arc, making 13 of 25 attempts. For PCC, Vazquez talllied 13 points and five helpers while Knight scored his season high of 12 points.
Head coach Ryan Frazer's Lancers will be challenged this Friday, Jan. 12 when they host #23-ranked Los Angeles Southwest in a SCC crossover. The Cougars (11-4) feature the state's current leading scorer in Chidi Obichere, who is averaging 24.3 points per contest.
Against El Camino, Coach Frazer picked up his 30th win as Lancers HC in just 1-1/2 seasons
All tip-offs are 5 p.m. the remainder of the regular season.