Giants see 7-game, season-opening winning streak snapped

By Nick Giannandrea

COS Athletics

College of the Sequoias men's basketball team fell from the ranks of the unbeatens over the weekend.

But it took an unusually hot shooting performance to pin the first loss on the Giants under new coach Dallas Jensen.

State No. 21-ranked Santa Rosa shot 51.8 percent overall and 57.9 percent from beyond the 3-point arc during an 87-77 victory over No. 4 COS on Dec. 8 at the Golden Gate Classic in San Francisco.

On the season, the Bear Cubs (6-3) shoot 45.4 percent overall and 34.0 percent on 3-pointers, but converted 24 of 56 shots overall and 11 of 19 3-pointers against the Giants, who fell to 7-1. 

Santa Rosa's hot shooting helped it jump out to a 50-35 first-half lead. COS outscored the Bear Cubs 42-37 in the second half, but the deficit was too large to overcome.

The Giants were led by Elihu Cobb (Santa Maria), who had 23 points, 17 rebounds and three blocks.

COS also received 22 points off the bench from Milton Burnett (Bullard High), and 10 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals from Amil Fields (Hayward).

The Giants opened the two-day, crossover tournament at City College of San Francisco with an 87-76 win against No. 30 Diablo Valley (4-4) on Dec. 7.

Savion Johnson (Hanford) led the way with 23 points, four rebounds, two assists and four steals.

Tiyon Martin (Pasadena) had 21 points, nine assists and three rebounds, Fields had 16 points and four rebounds, and Ayo Aderoboye (Lagos) added 11 points and six rebounds for COS.

The Giants are off to a strong start under Jensen, who was selected as the 15th coach in COS history in May after going 51-8 in two seasons at Gavilan in Gilroy. Jensen replaced Rusty Smith, who stepped down in March after an Elite Eight appearance capped his 18 seasons with the Giants.

COS will play next at the Modesto Tournament on Dec. 12-14.

The Giants are set to open against Lassen (3-6) at 2 p.m. Dec. 12.