Giants get back on track following first loss
By Nick Giannandrea
COS ATHLETICS
As the College of the Sequoias men's basketball team builds toward what is expected to be the complete return of California community college athletics in 2021-2022, it learned an important lesson over the weekend.
How to respond to an off night.
After allowing a halftime lead to slip away during a 64-60 loss at Allan Hancock on March 19, the Giants bounced back in a big way March 20, rolling over the Bulldogs 78-63 at Porter Field House.
Sequoias improved to 5-1 in a season delayed and abbreviated over safety precautions related to the global coronavirus pandemic.
"It's been a whirlwind just in the last month, dealing with injuries and managing young men through a pandemic and trying to keep them mentally strong and dialed in with school work and family life and relationships, all those things on top of the game of basketball," Giants coach Dallas Jensen said. "I'm proud of our guys for showing some resiliency. (On March 19) we struggled a little bit and kudos to Allan Hancock, that's a great program. (Bulldogs coach) Tyson Aye does an amazing job with those guys. They compete at a high level and are physical. But I was really glad to see our guys rebound and play a little bit more COS basketball."
Behind 12 first-half points from Scott Ator (Texas), Sequoias built a commanding 42-30 lead against Allan Hancock on March 20.
The Giants came out even hotter in the second half, pushing their lead to as much as 26 points.
A Seth Dawson (Antioch) 3-pointer with 6:39 left in the second half capped a 22-4 run that saw Sequoias go up 70-44.
The Bulldogs (2-3) outscored the Giants 18-9 the rest of the way, but never got closer than a 13-point deficit.
Tiveon Stroud (Selma), who capped the scoring with a thunderous dunk off a Mohammed Adam (Marina) assist, led Sequoias with 19 points, four rebounds, two blocks, an assist and a steal.
Ator finished with 14 points, three rebounds, two blocks, an assist and a steal.
Ryan Johnson (Hanford) had 13 points, eight rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals, while Amil Fields (Hayward) added 11 points, six rebounds, an assist and a steal for Sequoias.
The Giants also received six points, eight assists, three rebounds, a block and a steal from Dawson; six points, four rebounds and three assists from Adam; four points, three rebounds, an assist and a steal from Ryan Troutman (Kerman); and three points, two rebounds, two steals and an assist from Conner Jackson (Dublin).
A poor shooting night doomed Sequoias during its March 19 loss in Santa Maria.
The Giants connected on only 33.3% of their shots (23 of 69) overall, and were particularly off the mark from beyond the 3-point arc, shooting 26.8% (11 of 41).
Ator and Adam each scored 14 points to pace Sequoias. Ator added three rebounds, a block and a steal, while Adam had three steals, two rebounds and two assists.
Fields delivered nine points, three rebounds and an assist; Johnson had seven points, seven rebounds, an assist and a steal; Stroud contributed six points, six rebounds and a steal; Jackson had five points, four assists, three rebounds and a steal; Nicolas Allen (Georgia) had five points and Dawson had eight assists, two steals and a rebound for the Giants.
Sequoias' month-long season continues with one game this week, at home against Cuesta on March 26. Tip off is scheduled for 7 p.m. from Porter Field House. Fans are not permitted because of covid-19 safety precautions.
The Giants will close their season by hosting Cerro Coso at 5:30 p.m. March 31, and traveling to Ridgecrest to face the Coyotes at 5 p.m. April 1.
"We've talked a lot about just progressing. Every day trying to get a little bit better. You know, utilizing this as essentially a free year and trying to have a great foundation in place and build that camaraderie so we can try and do something special come next year," Jensen said. "So I'm proud of the guys for the way they are competing and trying to get better every single day. Still tons of area for improvement, but I just want to see them continue to work their tails off. I want to see them enjoy this experience as much as they can."