PC men’s basketball falls against Fullerton
The Porterville College men’s basketball team played in its second game of the season at Fullerton against the Hornets on Tuesday. Just after the Pirates win last week against the Allan Hancock Bulldogs 73-68.
The Pirates had a solid effort the whole game, however they gave up too many free throws and the Hornets ended up winning 72-62.
The first half started quickly and set the mood for the whole contest. The Hornets took possession first but missed their first few attempts. An excellent steal by Pirate Cameron Walker at 17:05 had some serious heat behind it. Walker took the ball and moved it up the court for the shot but missed. Thankfully Pirate Assad Madassalia was there and got the rebound and the Pirates first points with a beautiful jump shot after the first shot went wild.
The Hornets pressed again but missed their shots again and again letting Walker snag the ball again out from under the Hornets offense. Walker passed to Jalen Joy who took it further down the court before he hit the jump shot to give PC a 4-2 lead.
A push by the Hornets was interrupted by the Pirates as Elijah Sterling stole the ball and then fired it down court to Walker who easily made the three pointer raising the Pirates lead to 7-2. The Hornets still had plenty of fight and they showed it with a three pointer of their own and then a quick layup to tie the game 7-7.
The first half continued with a block by Pirate Elijah Seales who passed the ball quickly to Justin Sabater who passed to Assad Madassalia who was completely unattended by the Hornets defense. Madassalia had no contest and ran right up to the bucket and dunked the ball with joy.
The Pirates lead wouldn’t last for long though as the Hornets kept catching up. With under 10 minutes remaining in the first quarter, the Pirates Julio Phipps slipped right past the Hornets defense and landed the Pirates second dunk of the evening, giving PC a 19-17 lead.
The Hornets responded with a flurry of attacks and took a 27-22 lead after a layup with six minutes remaining.
Madassalia however had a trick up his sleeve thanks to a solid pass from Foy. Madassalia found the Hornets weak spot and hit them hard, breaking through and landing the third dunk of
the evening. The Hornets didn’t stop even for a moment, with seemingly relentless energy they pushed through making multiple three point shots as the seconds ticked down. Fullerton led 36-29 at halftime after the Hornets got another three point conversion.
The second half had some tough results for the Pirates as PC started being called a heavy amount of fouls.
A technical foul on both sides led to a turnover to Phipps that turned into a massive back and forth that just refused to stop.
One Pirate play was interrupted by the Hornets with a steal only for the Pirates to gain it back as they rushed down to the basket. The Pirates were the first to score with Walker getting a defensive rebound and passing it to Madassalia who got the layup and narrowed the score to 36-31.
The Hornets started to hit a groove as the second half moved on. The Hornets took a 40-31 lead before the Pirates Sabater was fouled and made his free throws. The Hornets hit multiple three point shots as the Pirates tried to rally back.
Sterling made a jump shot with assistance by Madassalia to bring the Pirates as close as they’d be to the Hornets for the rest of the game at 48-41.
Only five minutes remained and the Hornets went onto hit five free throws and a layup, running away to a 61-50 lead. The Pirates Quincy White hit a layup but was followed right up by the Hornets offense.
Jake Abrams took a rebound for the Pirates and passed it off to Walker who made his shot as he passed by two Hornet defenders. The Pirates Quincy White moved past three Hornet defenders on his way down the court before he’d have to pass the ball off. Madassalia took the pass from White but couldn’t find any hole in the Hornets defense and so he passed to Walker. Walker and White made a quick pass and slipped through the Hornets defense and earned them their last score with only two minutes to make the score 6962.
The Pirates are next scheduled to take on the San Jose City College Jaguars in San Jose on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.