The home crowd was in dismay during the game while cheering on the men’s basketball team in hopes of a much needed offensive spark to start off Southern Coast Conference(SCC) play but despite their valiant effort it was to no avail as the Warriors lost to L.A. Harbor College, 66-46.
Tensions ran high throughout the game in the North Gym as the Warriors battled the Seahawks and were playing catch up since the opening tip-off.
“I was looking for them to be competitive,” head coach Robert Uphoff said. “We need to defend our home court.”
The Warriors struggled to get any defensive stops in the beginning of the game and were getting beat deep by the three-pointer early with Harbor’s first three baskets coming from long range.
“You either have heart or you don’t and we don’t have it,” Uphoff said.
The story of the night was the Warriors’ continued struggles of maintaining ball possession and making free throws. The Warriors were shooting only 30 percent (6-20) from the free-throw line and had 27 turnovers according to the final box score.
Freshman forward Da’koda Lacey knows his team is still very much alive in the SCC with seven games left but it won’t be easy.
“We need to work on defense and free throws,” Lacey said. “Also we need to make the most out of every opportunity down the court,”.
Freshman guard Jason Ball led the team in scoring with nine points, while adding seven rebounds and two assists. Freshman guard Tristan Egans and Sophomore guard Dreymon Jones were the second leading scorers with seven points a piece.
Freshman point guard Brandon Guerrero knows his team has been plagued with free throw problems all season and said it needs to be fixed.
“It’s been a broken record all season long and those free throws will help us out down the stretch,” Guerrero said. “We need to trust each other and believe in each other,”.
Guerrero explained the games they were over 50 percent in the free throw column they won, so focus is a must as EC travels to play Los Angeles Southwest College on Friday at 7 p.m.
The Warriors overall record is 3-15 with hopes of a conference win against L.A. Southwest to keep their playoff hopes alive.
“We are still in the mix and there is no clear-cut favorite to win this conference yet,” Coach Uphoff said.
