After a do-over in OT, Hawks claim first win

2021 SAN DIEGO CHRISTIAN HAWKS MEN’S BASKETBALL

 SAN DIEGO CHRISTIAN 90, LIFE PACIFIC 88 (OT)

ECS staff report

SAN DIMAS – San Diego Christian College needs to learn how to celebrate. After claiming an overtime victory on Saturday (Jan 30), the Hawks walked off the court like nothing happened, despite claiming a 90-88 overtime victory over Life Pacific University.

The triumph gave the teams a split of their Golden State Athletic Conference series.

“We made some adjustments from the night before. We knew this team (LPU) was much improved from last year,” said Hawks head coach Dwayne Cosby. ” They have upgraded both their skill-set and their personnel. This game was a battle to the final possession just like the night before.”

In a battle between coaches that once worked together as assistants at Cal Baptist University, San Diego Christian College head coach Dwayne Cosby saw his Hawks salvage a weekend split against head coach Tim Cook’s Warriors at Mehl Court.

On Friday (Jan. 29), the host Warriors survived a late challenge to take a narrow 68-66 decision. Less than 24 hours later on Saturday (Jan. 30) afternoon, San Diego Christian used a role-reversal to snap an 8-game losing streak.

Both contests followed similar scripts, only the roles were reversed in the second ballgame.

In Game 1, San Diego Christian trailed early, 19-18, but a breakaway layup would give them the lead. However, the shot was missed, as Life Pacific followed with a 12-0 run to grab a double-digit lead.

The Hawks utilized a late 22-10 run to close the contest, then gained possession of the basketball with four second remaining. However, a highly-contested, three-point shot for the win at the buzzer sailed wide left.

The teams switched roles in the getaway game.

After the squads swapped baskets early in overtime, it was the Warriors that had a wide-open layin. It was also missed, as the Hawks responded with a 10-4 run (despite missing four consecutive foul shots). Luckily, SDCC made 4-of-6 free throws in the final 30 seconds, then also survived a half-court shot at the buzzer to win.

With 1.9 seconds remaining, Life Pacific actually had two chances to win or extend the contest into a second overtime.

On the inbounds pass, the Warriors shooter was fouled on a three-point attempt, but officials couldn’t decide if the shot attempt came before or have the buzzer — there was no buzzer; the scoreboard operator forgot to start the clock!

The referees ruled a do-over, even though the game was streamed on the internet, thus, there was a video available to review. However, both sides agreed, the Hawks didn’t foul, and another half-court shot smacked off the backboard and missed.

In Game 1, Jermaine Camacho paced the Hawks with 22 points. However, the balance of the roster shot just 15-for-52 (28.8 percent) from the floor, including an 0-for-15 rate from three-point range in the opening 20 minutes to trail 36=27 at the intermission.

In Game 2, Teyden Gause, who missed the low-chance closing shot in the opener, stormed back with a season-high 29 points. The senior point guard also registered seven assists to snap a mild 2-game win streak by Life Pacific.

San Diego Christian continues its 5-game road trip next weekend with a pair against Ottawa University in Sunrise, Ariz., on Feb. 5-6… UPDATE: Moved to Feb. 15-16.