After losing a tough contest for first place currently in the South Coast Conference North Division at Mt. San Antonio College on Wednesday, the Pasadena City College men's basketball team figured it would have a much easier time v. Los Angeles City, a 4-17 team sitting at the bottom of the standings on Friday night.
But after a sluggish start and falling behind 26-16, PCC head coach Ryan Frazer pulled four of his starters, then substituted a few players at the end of his bench as well in a two-fold strategy. The team responded by cutting the lead to 39-37 by halftime and then the starters returned to play with more determination over the final 20 minutes. The end result was a 78-70 victory for Pasadena.
The newly-ranked, state #25 Lancers (14-8) saw a 6-game winning streak end in a 71-63 loss to #10 Mt. San Antonio. However, PCC has now won its last six straight on its Hutto-Patterson Gym floor and seven of the team's last eight games overall. Pasadena is 3-1 in SCC North play while Mt. SAC is 4-0.
For the first time in 22 games, Frazer planted four of his starters on an extended rest the last 10 minutes of the first half.
"It wasn't like we were doing anything well, so I saw this as an opportunity to get some our bench guys playing time and see if they could kick-start us," Frazer said. "And really they did a great job and got us back into the game. I think the message also was sent to our starting five that we better show a sense of urgency in the second half. LA City played us really tough and it's a lesson that you can't take any opponent for granted in the South Coast."
The bench would score 13 of the team's points in outscoring LACC, 21-13, over the last nine minutes of the first half. Reserve guard Micah Jernigan hit two 3-pointers from well beyond the arc, and regular back-ups Kaiden Fine (two short jumpers) and Barry Knight (swished a trey) were instrumental in the rally.
Also off the bench, Jalyn White, John Parmeter-Zapata, Brad'n Archer and Elijah Wade all saw action during the late first-half surge.
In the second half, Myles Watkins' layup gave PCC its first lead of the contest at 41-39. A Dylan Swillis bucket ended a series of lead changes, giving PCC the lead for good at 49-48 with 15:58 remaining. The bench still needed to make some key plays as Knight hit a three, then Fine scored five straight points to up it to 63-55 with 9:36 to go.
Overall, Swillis, the only starter to play normal long minutes, finished with 18 points (7-for-10 from the field) and seven rebounds, Watkins tallied 16 points (12 in the second half), and Deen Abdur-Rahmann scored 10 of his 12 points in the last 20 minutes. Shant Chenorhavorian added eight points and four assists while Jalen Vazquez had three points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals. The bench totaled 21 points on 8-for-14 shooting including nine from Fine and six each by Knight and Jernigan. White played strong defense with two blocked shots and two rebounds.
LA City was led by Chasen Stewart, who scored a game-high 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.
Against Mt. SAC, the Mounties jumped out to an 8-0, then 22-9 lead before going into halftime ahead, 37-27. PCC roared back with an 11-0 run to open the second half, capped by layup by Watkins. But Mt. SAC (20-2) outscored the Lancers, 15-5, over the next six minutes and never relinquished the advantage.
Watkins scored 17 points (8-for-10 from the free throw line), Abdur-Rahmann 13, while Swillis had 10 points and nine rebounds. Knight added nine points, Chenorhavorian eight and four steals, and Jalen Vazquez had two points, eight boards, five assists and two steals.
Next Wednesday, Feb. 7, the Lancers travel to face Rio Hondo in a 5 p.m. conference game.