Wolverines Overcome Sluggish Start to Stop Spartans

Photo by Micah Escamilla
Photo by Micah Escamilla

After having its 14-game winning streak snapped Tuesday, the San Bernardino Valley College men's basketball team knew it would not have a lot of time to right the ship before the state playoffs begin next week.

Thursday night, it took the Wolverines a little bit to get going, but once they did, the ship was headed back in the right direction.

SBVC shot 54.9 percent from the field, including making 53.3 percent from beyond the three-point arc, as the Wolverines beat MiraCosta 102-80 to close out the regular season as the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference North Division champions.

Both teams struggled shooting out of the gate, with SBVC only making 44.7 percent of its shots in the opening 20 minutes - compared to 33.3 percent for the Spartans. The Wolverines went into the break up 42-29.

But after a rough start to the second half, the Wolverines heated up. Brandon Thompson, Arian Azemi and Joe'l Towers started a three-point shot parade (the trio was a combined 6-for-11 from beyond the arc), helping the Wolverines expand their lead to as much as 24. Overall, SBVC made 66.7 percent of its shots in the last 20 minutes.

Overall, it was sophomore Damani Washington who led the way on Sophomore Night. He had 20 points to lead all scorers, and he pulled down six rebounds. Nathan Pendarvis and Roman Silva each added 16 points. Pendarvis had 11 assists, while Silva notched seven rebounds and three steals. Thompson had 14 off the bench and Cameron Butler added 11.

Xavier Allison led MiraCosta with 19 points.