Giants men's basketball topples Contra Costa, awaits S.F. on Nov. 18
By Nick Giannandrea
COS ATHLETICS
The marquee matchup across all California community college men's basketball on Nov. 17 will take place at Porter Field House.
That's where College of the Sequoias, ranked No. 5 in the California Community College Men's Basketball Coaches Association preseason poll, is set to host No. 7 City College of San Francisco. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.
San Francisco is a five-time state champion, including three of the past six contested: 2016, 2018 and 2022. There was no champion in 2020 and 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
"They are one of the storied programs in the state of California," Sequoias coach Dallas Jensen said. "(San Francisco) coach Justin Labagh is one of the best coaches probably in the country, and well-deserving of being at a four-year school if he wanted to do that. They will be well-prepared. They are extremely talented, really good shot making, very athletic, fast and guard it well."
The Giants and Rams experienced different results Nov. 16 during the launch of the two-day, four-team Giants Classic.
Sequoias (3-0) rode 19 points and six assists from Jose Cuello (Harlem, N.Y.) to an 83-72 victory over Contra Costa (0-4).
While the scoreboard displayed a convincing victory during the Giants' home debut, fifth-year coach Jensen wasn't convinced it was his team's best possible performance two weeks into the 2023-2024 season.
Consider:
* After racing out to an 18-point lead (41-23) on a 3-pointer by Mikey Ficher (Tulare Western) with 4 minutes and 21 seconds left in the first half, Sequoias was outscored 49-42 the rest of the way.
* Contra Costa, which was outshot 50 percent (29 of 58) to 39.7 percent (23 of 58) from the field, closed within eight points (74-66) on Christopher Sanders' jumper with 3:36 remaining in the game.
* The Giants made just 58.1 percent of their free throws (18 of 31) compared to 70.4 percent (19 of 27) for the Comets.
* Sequoias committed more turnovers (16-15), gave up more points off turnovers (17-14) and were outscored 34-24 by players off the bench.
"I thought we played relatively hard, but we were a little bit inconsistent on both ends tonight," Jensen said. "Contra Costa, at moments, was much more physical than us, and that really surprised me that we weren't matching their physicality.
"I thought we gave up way too many second chance opportunities. I didn't think we valued the basketball particularly well. And we didn't make free throws. It's not that I think we played awful, but we didn't play good enough. Like I told the guys, I'm very happy we won the game. But we're leaving a lot on the table right now for where we could be. I don't expect to be perfect in the middle of November, but I expect to be better."
Sequoias received scoring contributions from all 11 players who entered the game, including 14 points and six rebounds from Omari Newbit (Sacramento).
Cal State Bakersfield commitment Cameron Clark (Gwinnet, Ga.) delivered 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Jaylon Lee (Las Vegas) added 10 points, nine rebounds and three assists for the Giants.
Davis White (Santa Clarita) had eight points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals; Jaden Haire (Hanford West) had seven points, five rebounds and an assist; Lazamion McGruder (Canton, Miss.) had four points and a steal; Alex Argandar (Modesto) had three points and a rebound; James Freeman (Sacramento) had two points and a rebound; and Kion Hayes (Savannah, Ga.) added two points and a rebound for the Giants.
"I don't think there was any let down from last weekend or guys maybe not focused or any look ahead," Jensen said. "The guys knew what was at stake tonight. We've got to win every time we come out, but we just didn't finish possessions and, at the end of the day, that hurt us a little bit."
San Francisco (5-1), meanwhile, gave up 24 points and six rebounds to Chidi Bichere during a 74-70 loss to preseason No. 13-ranked Los Angeles Southwest (3-1).
The Rams surrendered the lead for good (29-27) after two free throws by L.A. Southwest's Alusine Barrie with 3:09 left in the first half.
San Francisco fell behind by as much as 14 points (50-36) in the second half before forging a 66-66 tie on Jeraine Haliburton's 3-pointer with 2:39 remaining in the game, but L.A. Southwest's Joel Baez scored six of his 18 points down the stretch to help the Cougars hang on.
"San Francisco will be just fine. They looked a little flat tonight, but I don't expect that to be the case tomorrow," Jensen said. "What fans saw tonight with them is not a representation of who they are. We will get their best shot tomorrow. And this will be a really, really important early chance for us to see where we're at."
