Giants down No. 9 Columbia; head to Porterville on Jan. 25
By Nick Giannandrea
COS Athletics
Without two key contributors, College of the Sequoias' men's basketball team didn't miss a beat while adding an important trump card to its postseason resume.
The Giants, who are ranked 10th in the California Community College Men's Basketball Coaches Association poll, pulled away from No. 9 Columbia over the final 1:35 for an 82-76 Central Valley Conference victory on Jan. 22 at Porter Field House.
COS (15-4, 4-1) remains one game behind conference-leading Fresno City while knocking the Claim Jumpers (17-2, 3-2) out of a share of second place.
"Criteria-wise this is a very big win for COS," Giants coach Dallas Jensen said. "It's going to really help us when it comes to seeding, and it keeps us in the thick of things in CVC play."
Amil Fields (Hayward) and Tiveon Stroud (Selma) helped the Giants overcome the absence of Dewayne Holmes (Riverside) and Carlos Allen (Atlanta) -- both out with injuries -- by combining for 38 points and 20 rebounds off the bench.
"That's the beauty of this team. One of the things I've said from day one is our depth is really, really good," Jensen said. "So of course, do we miss guys like Dewayne and (Carlos)? Absolutely. But for us, it's kind of the next man up. We don't really think a whole lot about it. We have guys that are continually ready to play and compete at a high level. I thought everyone came in and did their job. Everyone that was on the floor really contributed tonight."
Fields led COS with 25 points on 9 of 13 shooting from the field, while also grabbing nine rebounds and dishing out five assists.
Stroud, who had missed the Giants' previous five games and seven overall because of illness and family matters, delivered 13 points and a team co-leading 11 rebounds, five off the offensive glass. He also blocked three shots while making 6 of 7 from the field.
"Tiv was a game changer, an absolute game changer," Jensen said. "He was phenomenal on the defense end, protecting the rim. The things he did on both ends on the glass was fantastic. He was great. We had some dudes who really stepped up tonight. It's fun to see big-time players step up in big-time games."
COS fell into its biggest deficit of the second half (52-46) following a 3-pointer by Columbia's Keith Shakes with 12:56 remaining.
Fields had seven points and an assist over the next 1:11 to fuel an 11-4 Giants' run that saw them pull into the lead for good at 57-56.
Clinging to a 75-72 lead with 1:13 left, Tiyon Martin (Pasadena) sank a 3-pointer off a feed from Fields to make it a two possession game.
Fields made 4 of 5 free throws the rest of the way to help COS hold on for its third straight win.
"We talked a lot coming in about executing a game plan for an entire 40 minutes, and I thought for about 32 to 34 of those minutes we played pretty doggone well," Jensen said. "We really wanted to be sound defensively, play disciplined against that dribble drive, contest all shooters, and we really wanted to attack the rim at the offensive end. We didn't want to get into a 3-point shooting battle. We wanted to try and impose our will with our length and our size and really play at the rim, and I thought we did a really good job of that tonight."
Ryan Johnson (Hanford) had 20 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and two steals for the Giants. Elihu Cobb (Santa Maria) added nine points and eight rebounds.
"It was a dog fight, but I'm glad we came out on top," Johnson said. "We did a lot during practices just going over what they ran, and I feel we executed perfectly tonight. Coach Jensen put in a great game plan."
COS resumes conference play Jan. 25 at Porterville (10-9, 3-2), the first of four consecutive road games. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m.
The Giants play at West Hills-Lemoore (2-17, 0-5) on Jan. 29, at West Hills-Coalinga (0-19, 0-5) on Feb. 1, then get a second shot at state No. 5-ranked Fresno City (16-3, 5-0) on Feb. 5.
COS' next home game at Porter Field House is set for 5 p.m. Feb. 8 against Merced (8-9, 2-3).
"The reality is in any conference in American at any level, conference play is tough. We saw that last week with Reedley," Jensen said of a last-seconds 77-75 win over the Tigers on Jan. 18. "It really just doesn't matter who you play, you have to come out ready to compete and be engaged and be ready to play an entire 40 minutes."