Heading into the final 7.9 seconds, the basketball team’s goal of being conference champion with a 20-10 record, was obstructed in the end by a missed basket, leading to a 74-73 loss to the Los Angeles Southwest Cougars Friday night.
The men will host Long Beach tomorrow night at 7:30 in the North Gym in the final regular-season conference game. The Vikings come into the contest with a 17-13 overall record.
After a missed free throw from the Cougars, a frenzied last-second play ensued, which led to a layup by guard Marquis Wright, which rimmed in and out, ending the faced-paced game.
“I looked up and there was nothing but open court,” Wright said. “It just went in and out.”
Trying to take advantage of the momentum of a missed free throw by the other team, the Warriors decided not to stop the play clock and continued down the court with the ball.
“Typically, we would call time out but our opponent missed one free throw and we just went for it,” coach Mike Fenison said.
Instead of making an attempt for the last shot, point guard Joey Knox opted to instead pass to a streaking Wright, who went up for the layup and missed.
“Usually, I would take the last shot but three people collapsed on me,” Knox said.
The high-intensity pace that marked the entire game was reflected during the final play of the game for the Warriors.
“I got the rebound and gave the ball to Joey who gave it to Marquis,” freshman forward Kris Lawrie said, “We were doing pretty good, but gave up the game toward the end.”
A back-and-forth affair between the two teams started and ended in a run-and-gun fashion with plenty of open shots and lay-ups.
The Warriors’ offense was paced by the steady play of point guard Knox and his nine points and nine assists.
Forward Chuck Gray’s 24 points combined with 16 points from leading scorer and guard Marcellus Cullors.
“When he tied it at seventy-two, we should have grabbed the rebound,” Wright said. “I had to foul him because I was the last one there.”
The tone of the Warriors’ defense was set by three crowd-pleasing blocks in traffic by Lawrie, which also helped spark the momentum for the Warriors’ offense.
“I tried to get into position to help my teammates,” Lawrie said.
For the Cougars’ side, the pace was set by the quick point guard play of Kendrick Harris’ 23 points.
Harris sliced inside the Warriors’ defense and looked unstoppable when he drove in the ball.
“We were so busy trying to sprint that we couldn’t stop him,” Knox said. “He was so fast.”
The speed of Harris posed a constant threat to the Warriors throughout the game, a threat that Fennsion considered the team was able to restrain to a certain extent.
“I tip my hat off to him,” Fennison said. “He’s quick as a cat, but the zone did help a lot to stop him.”
With this loss, the Warriors fall to 19-10 and will have to improve on certain aspects of the performance for tomorrow night’s game in order to clinch a seed in the postseason.
“We should rebound better,” Wright said. “That’s our Achilles heel.”
There is a sense of disappointment due to the loss which did more than just alter the possibility of a good playoff seed.
“”We just lost an opportunity to win our conference,” Knox said.
Despite the setback of their most recent loss, there is a glimmer of hope that the Warriors will accomplish something that EC basketball has not done in two decades.
“We’ve had a pretty good season so far with a couple of tough games,” Fennison said. “This could be the first time in twenty years that the team wins twenty games during the regular season.”
