Late Sloppy Play Leads to Men’s Basketball Defeat

For the first 33 minutes Wednesday night, the Pasadena City College men’s basketball team slugged it out basket for basket with visiting Los Angeles Southwest. The lead changed hands 15 times and amazingly the non-conference game was tied at 23 different occasions.

But with PCC trailing, 72-71, following a basket by guard Jonathan Henderson, the Lancers fell out of sync. Over the next 4-1/2 minutes, Pasadena missed four shots and made five turnovers while LASW went on an 8-0 run.

While the Lancers made a late rally, the cold spell was too much to overcome in an 85-82 loss before 200 plus fans at Hutto-Patterson Gymnasium.

Henderson, a sophomore, sank back-to-back 3-point bombs that cut it to 83-82 with less than a minute remaining. After a pair of free throws by Cougars’ guard Layon Gooden, guards Dejon Williams and Demetrius Overstreet each missed 3-point attempts in the last 17 seconds that sealed PCC’s fate.

Henderson had perhaps his best game as a Lancer in scoring a game-high 28 points, including five 3-pointers. Williams added 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists while forward Jaryn Taylor contributed 14 points, nine rebounds and four steals. Sophomore center Faruk Oyalade totaled eight points and 10 rebounds while Overstreet scored seven and dished out eight assists.

For LA Southwest (7-7 overall), Reggie Fields led four players in double digit scoring on 16 points.

PCC (7-10 overall) will host state No. 3-ranked Mt. San Antonio (16-1) on Friday, Jan. 16 in a South Coast Conference North Division game.