Big Rally Gives Men's Cagers Win At Compton

The Pasadena City College men's basketball team fell behind by as much as 20 points in the first half, but rallied behind the 3-point shooting of Quinlan Daly in outdueling host Compton, 85-79, in a South Coast Conference crossover game Friday night.

Head coach Ryan Frazer reached his first school milestone with his 50th victory in his third season directing the Lancers. 

Unranked in Dec. 30's State Top 30, the Lancers moved to 9-6 overall in winning for only the second time in the last six games.

Things didn't look good early as Compton built a 31-11 lead and went into halftime comfortably ahead of PCC at 52-38 on a last-second bank shot by Zoe Holman. Compton made eight straight shots at one point in the first 20 minutes and shot an impressive 70 percent from the floor in the half.

Daly, a reserve freshman wing, started his long-range wizardy with a pair of 3s and a reverse layup late in the first half. To start the second half, he bombed in two more treys, Cooper Creamer scored six points, and backup guard LaQwon Cole nailed a 3-pointer-from the corner and sank a free throw for a 4-point play that tied it at 60-60. 

With 12:04 remaining, Kaiden Fine's layup put the Lancers ahead for the first time at 62-60. Compton regained the lead, but Dylan Swillis's inside basket and then a free throw got the advantage back to PCC at 80-79 with 2:25 to go. In the final minute, a Swillis steal set up a fast-break layup by Jalen Vazquez that sealed the victory.

PCC made a season-high 27 free throws (36 attempts) at a 75 percent clip. 

Daly, who was 5-for-8 from long range, scored 18 points as did Kaiden Fine, who made 7-for-8 at the line. Vazquez recorded a double-double on 15 points (nine free throws) and 10 assists as he scored 13 of his points in the second half.

Averaging 21.1 points and 9.7 rebounds a game this season, Swillis was limited to just 12 points and seven boards, all of those in the game's last 13 minutes. Other contributors were Cole with eight points, Creamer's seven points, five rebounds and three steals, and Darrius Freeman, who had four points but grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds. 

On Dec. 28, PCC lost on the road at Palomar, 76-74, despite 19 points and eight boards by Swillis and a 13-point, 8-assist, 8-rebound effort by Vazquez, the state's assists leader at 8.4 per game. He is on pace to break the school record for highest assists average, set by Corey Caston in 2008-09 at 7.9 helpers a contest. 

"Friday's game was nothing we wanted, but everything we needed," Frazer said. "Compton plays hard and physical and punched us in the mouth shooting extremely well. It took us a long time to respond and honestly sent us into halftime with a lot of questions. I felt our repsonse in the second half was a sign of us maturing just a bit. We were in a similar situation against Palomar and didn't execute. I'm glad we found a way to win and can build on this experience as we prep for Cerritos, another tough opponent."

Frazer noted that Daly and Cole sparked the team when the starting unit struggled in the first half.

SCC North Division member PCC continues its trip through the conference's South Division with a home game v. Cerritos on Wednesday, Jan. 8 followed by another Hutto-Patterson Gymnasium tilt v. Long Beach CC on Friday, Jan. 10. Both games have 7 p.m. tip-offs.