Giants men's basketball keep CVC lead within reach with comeback win over Merced

By Nick Giannandrea

COS ATHLETICS

The revenge tour of the Central Valley Conference continued for College of the Sequoias men's basketball team.

But it took a major comeback.

The Giants overcame a 12-point halftime deficit while avenging the second of their three first-half conference losses with a 66-57 victory over Merced on Feb. 7 at Porter Field House.

It follows a 75-62 home win over Columbia on Feb. 3. Two-time reigning champion Sequoias opened CVC play with consecutive losses to Columbia (83-80 in overtime Jan. 10) and Merced (69-67 on Jan. 13). 

Following results from Feb. 7, the California Community College Men's Basketball Coaches Association state No. 16-ranked Giants (18-5, 6-3) are tied for second place in the CVC with No. 22 West Hills-Lemoore (16-6, 6-3), both one game behind No. 23 Fresno City (14-9, 7-2) with five to play. 

No. 15 Columbia (17-5, 5-3) is 1 1/2 games out of first after its game against West Hills-Coalinga was postponed. No. 13 Merced (17-6, 5-4) fell two games behind Fresno City.

"This is a huge win. It keeps us in it. That's all it does. It just keeps us in it and obviously helps build some momentum as we move forward in the second half," Sequoias coach Dallas Jensen said. "Hopefully it will help us when it comes to seeding at the end of the day in the playoffs. But again, for us right now, it's the whole one game at a time. I'm really not stressed on what anyone else is doing right now in conference. We are trying to become more consistent and still just trying to become the best version of ourselves."

The Giants jumped out to a 12-6 lead against Merced, but did so despite shooting only 35 percent (6 of 17) from the field during the game's first 8 minutes and 52 seconds. Sequoias is shooting 46.4 percent on the season.

Then things got worse for Sequoias, which made only 11 percent (2 of 19) of its shots the rest of the first half while falling into a 33-21 deficit.

Merced was up by 11 points (39-28) with 16:46 remaining in the game when the Giants caught fire.

Sequoias went on a 23-4 run, capped by a 3-pointer from Omari Nesbit (Sacramento) with 9:41 to play, to take a 51-43 lead. Nesbit scored seven points and Jaden Haire (Hanford West) added six during the surge.

The Blue Devils got as close as two points (55-53) on Tyreon Payne's jumper with 6:55 to play, and were three back (60-57) following a Deyon Bell free throw with 1:50 left, but the Giants went 7 of 8 from the free throw line down the stretch to pull away. Jaylon Lee (Las Vegas) made three free throws in the final 1:06 for the Giants.

"We just have such big ebbs and flows and highs and lows. We're still just not as consistent as we need to be," Jensen said. "I think, unfortunately in the first half, we played really good early and shots weren't going in. And that took a toll on the guys. All of a sudden, you could feel their energy and engagement levels drop because of shot making. We talked about how we can't allow shot making to determine how we're going to guard, how we're going to rebound, how we're going to talk. In the second half they were so good defensively, got out in transition and got some baskets to go. Just really played a super solid 20 minutes, and I was really proud of their resiliency to get that win tonight." 

Sequoias was led by its trio of post players in Lee, Haire and Cameron Clark (Gwinnett, Ga.), who helped the Giants out rebound Merced 59-31, including a 25-7 edge in offensive rebounds. 

Lee finished with 15 rebounds, seven offensive. Haire had 14 rebounds, eight offensive. And Clark had six rebounds, including three offensive, off the bench.

"We were trying to get every rebound," said Haire, who added 10 points and two blocks. "Shots weren't falling for me so the next thing I'm going to do is try to get rebounds, try to get blocks. I'm going to try to be as effective as I can be on the court."

Lee also delivered 13 points, four blocks and two steals, while Clark added two points and two blocks.

"I just thought they were physically dominant," Jensen said. "They relied on their strengths, and really were sound on the back end of our defense, altering shots and showing big. Was really proud of them tonight on both ends."

Alex Argandar (Modesto) led the Giants in scoring with 16 points, making 4 of 8 3-point shots. He also had four assists, two rebounds, two steals and a block.

Jose Cuello (Harlem, N.Y.) and Nesbit just missed recording double-doubles as Cuello finished with 13 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals; and Nesbit had 12 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Sequoias also received two rebounds, an assist and a steal from Davis White (Santa Clarita); two assists and a rebound from Mikey Ficher (Tulare Western); and two rebounds from Kion Hayes (Savannah, Ga.).

The Giants return to action at 3 p.m. Feb. 10 at West Hills-Lemoore, with a chance to drop the Golden Eagles from a tie for second place in the CVC. West Hills-Lemoore is coming off a 91-54 win at Reedley.

"They are one of the few teams in the conference that really matches up with us size wise and physicality wise," Jensen said. "They are super well coached. Jovan Joe is one of the better young coaches out there. They will be well prepared. It's a good, talented basketball team. We really have to try and play as close to a complete game as possible for 40 minutes to have a chance to win that one."

Sequoias' final two regular season home games are set for 5 p.m. Feb. 14 against Porterville (9-14, 3-6) and 3 p.m. Feb. 17 against West Hills-Coalinga (7-14, 1-7).

The Giants close CVC play with games at Fresno City (5 p.m. Feb. 21) and at Reedley (5 p.m. Feb. 23). The Tigers were the other team to beat Sequoias during the CVC's first half, winning 64-63 at Porter Field House on Jan. 31.