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Huskies Split Return Bout with Pasadena City
Posted: Feb 10, 2024

Huskies Split Return Bout with Pasadena City

by Cerwin D Haynes

 

Coming into tonight's doubleheader with Pasadena City College, both East LA College basketball teams needed wins to tie the Lancers for second place in South Coast Conference-North and bolster postseason aspirations. The men were able to avenge their January 24 loss to PCC, but the women fell short.

 

Men's Basketball
ELAC 85, PCC 70

The first 13+ minutes of the game was a tight back-and-forth affair, with the visiting Lancers up 24-22 on a Dylan Swillis layup. That's when the Huskies decided enough was enough: they closed the half on a staggering 19-0 run powered by rebounding, defense, and aggressive offensive effort. By time the teams hit the lockers for half, the Pack enjoyed a whopping 29-6 rebounding edge in the half (13 offensive) which helped lead to taking 11 more shots than PCC (37 to 26). East also held Pasadena to 34.6% shooting in the half while shooting 48.6% themselves. Sophomores G/F Gregory Melvin and G Shemar Morrow each had 10 points in the opening half.

The second half saw Pasadena City employ various full court presses and traps to disrupt ELAC's ability to advance upcourt to set up their offense. It began to work: ELAC started to turn the ball over, which lead to fast break points as PCC closed within 10, 47-37, with 16:05 left. Morrow - on the bench at this juncture - came back into the game, and the Pack gradually began to solve Pasadena's pressure. Utilizing a more deliberate, half-court offensive pace, East LA made enough good decisions to either drive the ball to the basket or make the right pass to an open teammate with the shot clock winding down. A 12-2 push, capped by a Seydi Thiombaine layup, push the home Green's lead to 20 with 12:08 to go. PCC would whittle the lead down to 12, 70-58, with 5:44 left, but would draw no closer down the stretch.

Women's Basketball
PCC 82, ELAC 71

Despite a heroic 32-point night from leading score Lupe Vazquez, East LA could not overcome Pasadena's clutch guard play in the fourth quarter. Taking a 16-11 lead after the first quarter, ELAC would hold serve in the second and third quarters to only trail by four, 68-64, going into the fourth. The Pack came oh so close on several occasions to tying the game: A Vazquez 3-ball closed the gap to 58-57 with 9:22 left, and with PCC responding, Vazquez hit another three with 6:37 to bring the Green within two, 64-62, with 6:37 to go. But the visitors ran off on an 11-2 spurt fueled by layups and three-pointers to put the Huskies in a 75-64 hole with 3:21 remaining. Vazquez would eventually hit another three to cut the deficit to eight with 2:29 left, but Vanessa Epperson drilled her third three of the night with 1:50 left to siphon away any chance of a late Pack comeback.

ELAC was done in in part by their 18 turnovers which lead to 23 Pasadena points. And as great as Vazquez was against her former team, she couldn't overcome Pasadena's balanced scoring - four of the five visiting starters scored in double digits. Epperson and Antuanae Garrett led the visitors with 22 points apiece.

 

HUSKY BITS - MEN
  • Super-sub sophomore Brandon Wilson again led ELAC with 24 points, shooting 9-13 from the floor (1-2 3FGs) while adding seven rebounds (five offensive). He was also 5-6 from the free throw line.
  • Morrow had one of his best all-around games as a Husky. The sophomore guard finished with 14 points on 6-9 shooting including a three-ball. He also had four assists, three steals and three blocks.
  • Sophomore F/G Gregory Melvin had 18 points, 10 boards (six offensive) with three steals and three assists.
  • East's rebounding superiority in the first half carried through the second. The Pack finished with a 46-18 advantage on the boards, 19-7 on the offensive glass.
  • The Huskies finished with 20 assists on 35 made baskets. Notably, East LA assisted on 14 of their 17 made field goals in the second half, which ultimately diffused PCC's press and trapping tactics.
  • Pasadena City G Myles Watkins led all scorers with 25 points on 7-13 shooting, including 1-3 from three and 10-11 from the line.

 

 

HUSKY BITS - WOMEN
  • Vazquez, the local sophomore from Cantwell, hit on 11-18 shots including 5-7 from downtown. She came into tonight's game ninth in the state in scoring (21.2 PPG), and third in three-point marksmanship (45%).
  • Sophomore F/C Makaia Smith had 17 points on 7-11 shooting while adding six rebounds and two blocks.
  • Freshman F/C Asiah Harris came off the bench and notched another double-double: 10 points, 10 rebounds.
  • Pasadena City's Garrett, a 33.9% shooter from beyond the arc, nailed 6-8 tonight from long range. PCC shot 43.5% from three overall.

 

UP NEXT:

Both Huskies' men and women have another big conference matchup next Wednesday at Mt. SAC. The teams will look to avenge their January 26 home losses to the Mounties, who are the leaders in their respective conference standings. Men tip off at 5pm, and the women at 7pm.