Men's Basketball Finally Ends ELAC Dominance

The Pasadena City College men's basketball team put an end to multiple extended win streaks held by East Los Angeles College, beating the Huskies, 86-74, in the South Coast Conference North Division opener for both squads on Wednesday night at Hutto-Patterson Gymnasium.

Here's the roll call on ELAC's streaks:

1. PCC ended the Sons of Netflix 28-game conference winning streak that went back to 2019
2. The Lancers snapped a 15-game losing streak against East LA teams going back to Jan. 9, 2015
3. PCC won for the first time at HP Gym v. the Huskies in 12 years, last beating ELAC at home on Feb. 15, 2012.

The Lancers (12-7) have won five in a row and took down East LA (13-6) with nifty team shooting, making 35-of-65 from the floor, including a sizzling 62.2 percent (23-for-37) in the second half.

After PCC led early 9-2, ELAC came back to take a 35-30 halftime lead. 

A layup by Jalai Okieth increased the Huskies advantage to 49-41 five minutes into the second half. At that point, the Lancers chiseled away, ultimately taking a 55-54 lead on back-to-back, 3-point bombs by Kaiden Fine and Deen Abdur-Rahmann. Midway through the half, ELAC again pulled ahead, 62-59, only to see PCC go on a 10-2 spurt capped by a Dylan Swillis layup. 

With Pasadena leading, 75-72, Myles Watkins drilled a three that served as a dagger with 2:31 left as PCC went on to post an impressive 12-point victory. The Lancers outscored ELAC, 56-39, over the final 20 minutes. 

"I had no idea about ELAC's conference streak and hearing that we broke it is cool, but the reality is it is just one game in a long conference season," said PCC head coach Ryan Frazer. "If we want a chance to win a conference championship, we have to enjoy our win but need to focus on being consistent and showing up each game.

"Tonight, I thought the team did a good job of showing resilience in a tough situation. Being up most of the first half to go into halftime down five could have really derailed us, but instead it seemed to fuel us to be better."

Watkins, a sophomore wing who helped PCC to the SoCal Regional Finals last season, played perhaps his best game of the '23-24 season. He made 10-for-14 from the field, scored a game-high 24 points and added four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Often, the Huskies' defense was forced to be wary anytime Watkins had the ball on offense, opening up space for his teammates to get free for either quality shot attempts or strong penetration to the basket. 

Freshman wing Dylan Swillis continues his strong play since the start of the new year as he scored 18 points (7-for-11 on field goals), grabbed seven rebounds and made three steals. Sophomore guard Deen Abdur-Rahmann added 14 points, nine rebounds and two blocks while Fine came off the bench to score 10 points with five boards and two steals. 

Frosh point guard Jalen Vazquez ran the offense well with eight points, eight assists while making four steals. Letterman guard Shant Chenorhavorian contributed nine points with three assists and two steals. 

Frazer talked about how his bench has been a big factor in the team's success.

"I think the thing that has made this team so fun to coach is how hard they play for each other and seeing every player have their moments. Kaiden Fine, Barry Knight, John Parmeter-Zapata, and Jalyn White are all guys who have come into a game and completely shifted the trajectory with their play throughout the season."

PCC next hosts Los Angeles Trade-Tech on Friday, Jan. 26 in a 5 p.m. tip-off at the HP Gym.