Preview: Men's and Women's Basketball looking to get another conference win at home

Both the College of the Sequoias men's and women's basketball teams will be at home Saturday night when the Giants host Porterville College at Porter Field House. This will be the first meeting for both teams this season.

Free throws were key for the men's basketball team to defeat Merced 92-85 on Wednesday night. The Giants knocked down 12-of-13 free throw attempts in the victory.

Giants (7-9, 1-1)  big man Kentrey Bynum, who was a force in the paint, led the Giants with 26 points. Bynum looks to do more of the same on Saturday against the Pirates

COS men's head coach Rusty Smith constantly encouraged his forward whenever he came close to the bench on Wednesday, and he had high praise for Bynum.

"He is always ready to play and he's so tough," Smith said. "He plays much bigger against better opponents."

On the other side of the ball, Porterville (5-11, 2-1)  is coming off back-to-back wins and is looking to continue their momentum in Visalia.

Pirates guard Malik McCowan is averaging 16.9 points a game and will try moving up the Central Valley Conference leaderboard against the Giants.

The main focus for Smith this season is to play well at home. He knows that winning games at Porter Field House will lead to success in other areas of the schedule, and a victory over Porterville will help.

"We have to hold our home court advantage," Smith said. "It's tough on the road, and every win in conference is a big one."

Tip-off for the men's game is at 5 p.m.

COS women's basketball head coach Ray Alvarado was frustrated after Wednesday's game despite the win.  The College of the Sequoias women's basketball team never trailed in their game against Merced, but the first half showed that the Lady Blue Devils were not going to lay down to the State's fifth-ranked team.

"We didn't really play well to be honest with you," Alvarado said. "I was disappointed in our effort. When one player (Salihah Bey) from the other team scores thirty plus points, that's not good. We have to go back and fix our rotations."

COS looked like the State's fifth best team when they wasted no time and went on a 16-0 run to begin Wednesday's game. They have been accustomed to large runs, and they look to continue that same tempo on Saturday.

COS has strength in numbers, with not one single player averaging double figures.

For example, the Giants bench chipped in 47 points,  with twelve players scoring on Wednesday. Cassidy Rodriguez led the way, contributing 18 points, knocking down 4-of-5 three pointers.

Dojahnae Senegal looks to start another double-double streak, with her four-game run snapped against Merced. She finished with 12 points and 8 rebounds.

The Porterville women's basketball team is currently struggling, as they are in the midst of a five game losing streak. The lone bright spot for the Pirates is guard Denisheun Jackson. She is the CVC's second leading scorer, averaging 20.5 points a game.

Sequoias will look to slow down Jackson, with the tip-off for the women's game set for 7 p.m.