PORT ANGELES — The Peninsula College men’s basketball team got down double digits in the second half and made a number of runs to cut into the lead, but could never totally climb that hill in a 71-60 home-opener loss Tuesday to Green River.
Every time the Pirates went on a run, Green River managed to respond.
Green River held a lead of 50-41 when the Pirates’ DeShawn Rushmeyer and Paxton Heitcsch hit back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 52-47 with 8:57 left in the game. Green River responded with a 10-0 run over 3½ minutes to take a commanding 62-47 lead with 5:23 left.
The Pirates weren’t done, however, and came back with one last run led by Akeem Sulaiman, who had a fantastic game, especially over the final six minutes.
Sulaiman scored five straight points, then after a steal by Isaiah Lopez, he assisted on a dunk by Antonio Odum as the Pirates got right back in the game at 62-54 with plenty of time left at 3:43.
The Gators had one more answer, however, coming back with a 3-pointer and a three-point play to make it 68-56 with 1:05 left to keep the Pirates at bay.
Over the last five minutes of the game, Sulaiman had nine points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals. He finished the game with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Lopez hit three 3-pointers and had 14 points, while Rushmeyer hit a pair of threes and finished with 11 points four assists and three steals.
Green River came in to Tuesday’s game 3-0, averaging exactly 90 points a game, so the Pirates’ defense held the Gators to nearly 20 points below their season average.
Peninsula (1-4) next plays at the Edmonds Tournament for three days beginning Friday with a 5 p.m. game against Grays Harbor.
The Peninsula women (2-2) host the Pirate Classic beginning at 6 p.m. Friday against Chemeketa, with games at 4 p.m. Saturday against Bellevue and 2 p.m. Sunday against Green River. The men are not playing in the Pirate Classic and are instead hosting an NWAC crossover tournament Dec. 13-15.
Green River 71, Peninsula 60
GR 40 31 — 71
PC 34 26 — 60
Green River (71) — Weidauer 20, Wright 15, Degraffenried 12, Feroah 7, Vaughan 7, Bailey 4, Albers 2.
Peninsula (60) — Sulaiman 17, Lopez 14, Rushmeyer 11, Odum 8, Shamp 4, Heitsch 3, Maestas 3.
