Letdown For Men's Basketball At Mt. SAC

Basking in the glow of its second upset over a state top 12 team in the last two weeks on Wednesday (a win over #12 LA Trade Tech), the Pasadena City College men's basketball team figured it had a patsy when it faced a struggling Mt. San Antonio team that had lost its previous two games by 30 and then 28 points.

And that's why games are played instead of decided on paper as PCC suffered a letdown as the host Mounties broke open a close game in the second half for a 66-48 victory. The Lancers scored a 2018-19 season low and saw their record drop to 14-8 overall and now 2-2 in the South Coast Conference North Division. Mt. SAC picked up its first conference win and improved to 9-12 and 1-3. 

PCC trailed by one, 24-23, going into the second half, but it was downhill from there. Capped by a pair of free throws by Daniel Dejoya, Mt. SAC went on a 19-7 run for a commanding 43-30 lead. Jordan Simpson's layup cut the Mounties lead to 45-39, but that was as close it got. Cyree Dunnell scored seven points in a 12-1 spurt that put the game out of reach. 

For the Lancers, Simpson scored 10 points, grabbed nine rebounds and blocked four shots while Giovonni Jackson added 10 points and seven boards. Chris Odionu had nine points and eight rebounds while Josiah Woods scored nine points with four assists off the bench. Dunnell scored a game-high 21 points to pace the Mounties.

While Mt. SAC did its job at the free throw line, making 21 of 27 attempts (78 percent), PCC did not as it converted only 11 of 23 (48 percent). 

The Lancers figured to be ranked in the State Top 25 for the first time in several seasons after their win over Trade Tech on Wednesday, but will learn next week if this Mt. SAC loss keeps them off the poll.

PCC will next be in action on Wednesday, Feb. 6 when it hosts Chaffey College in a 5 p.m. conference tip-off at Hutto-Patterson Gymnasium.