It almost was a dream come true. The #12 seed Pasadena City College men's basketball team held a 58-57 lead over the #4 San Bernardino Valley Wolverines with less than three minutes left. Underdog PCC was that close to punching a ticket to the CCCAA State Tournament. Alas, SBVC made six free throws in the last minute and ended the Lancers season, 63-58, in a SoCal Regional Final Saturday night.
The Lancers trailed 29-28 at halftime and took a 3-point lead, 56-53, on a trey by Myles Watkins with just under four minutes left. The teams combined for 11 lead changes and 10 ties when Nigel Wilson sank two free throws with 2:16 remaining for a 58-57 PCC advantage.
Wilson fouled out with 1:04 to go as Aamari Smith hit two free throws to regain the SBVC lead. Watkins tried and missed on a long-range 3 with five seconds to go. The Wolverines would hit two more free throws to put the game away.
"Tonight I thought we did so many good things to give ourselves a chance to win," said PCC head coach Ryan Frazer, who finished his first season directing the Lancers at 22-9. "Up one with a minute to go, I can't ask for anything else. I'm so proud of the grit and the fight that we had. We just needed to make one more play. SBVC is a tough team and has been at the top of the state all year. To be up on them at their place is not easy to do. We just ran out of time."
Watkins led the Lancers with 18 points, including three 3s, Jonathan Tchengang added 11 points and nine rebounds, Wilson 10 points and eight boards, and Shant Chenorhavorian eight points off the bench. Point guard Jayden Winfrey contributed two points, eight assists and four steals and Nurridin Abdur-Rahmann scored seven points.
The Wolverines led by as much as 10 at 24-14, but PCC went on a 10-0 run capped on a dunk by Wilson to tie it. A Tchengang slam cut the lead to one by halftime.
In the second half, Tchengang's early jumper gave the Lancers their first lead. After a number of leads, ultimately Lancers' foul trouble caught up to them.
SBVC made nine second-half free throws (14 attempts). Although PCC's defense limited state-leading scorer Dominique Daniels to just 13 points (averaged double that at 26.2 per contest), Chine Nwanevu was 6-for-6 inside the paint for team-highs of 14 points and 11 rebounds. Armon Muldrew hit three 3-pointers as part of his 12 points and Duwon Franklin scored six key points off the bench.
The Lancers did limit San Bernardino Valley to a season-low in points as the Wolverines remain in the top four in the state in scoring average at 88.1 points per game. PCC finished #8 in state team defense, allowing just 65.9 points average. It held SBVC to less than that average.
Frazer reflected on the team's season. "This year has been amazing and full of accomplishments. I am so thankful and forever indebted to this group of student-athletes. They represented PCC at the highest level and truly left a legacy. Obviously this year did not end the way we wanted it, but as they look back I hope that they can find some joy and happiness in all the amazing things they were able to do."
PCC put together an 11-game win streak, was ranked as high as #13 in the state coaches poll, played for a chance at the SCC North Division title on the final day of the conference season (losing to 7-time defending champion East Los Angeles), earned a seed to the regionals, won a home playoff game for the first time since 2004 over Cerro Coso, and upset a #5 seed in San Diego Miramar in Round 2.
