SEATTLE – Baskets were hard to come by for the Peninsula College men’s basketball team Saturday.
Thanks to the Pirates’ defensive effort, however, they were even more scarce for the Seattle Community College Storm.
DeShaun Freeman had 17 points, eight rebounds and three blocks to lead Peninsula to a 72-55 NWAACC North Division win in Seattle on Saturday.
“Our guys showed a lot of resiliency after the past game at Skagit [an 86-72 loss Wednesday],” first-year Pirates coach Lance Von Vogt said.
“They showed some heart and character. They played with great energy on the defensive end.
“I was really proud of how they played.”
The Pirates (3-1 in North, 8-5 overall) led from start to finish Saturday thanks in large part to an early-game offensive surge and a strong defensive effort the rest of the way.
Peninsula jumped out to a 19-5 lead against Seattle’s man-to-man defense.
After Seattle switched to a 2-3 zone, however, the Pirates cooled off on the offense and continued getting stops.
Peninsula held the Storm (2-2, 3-9) to just 36 percent shooting on the night while also forcing 17 turnovers.
That was enough to make up for a so-so shooting night (29 of 70 for 41 percent) from the field, as was the fact the Pirates turned the ball over just five times themselves.
“To win by 17 against a good squad on the road while shooting that poorly just shows you how tough our defense was tonight,” Von Vogt said.
“We competed for every loose ball and contested every shot and made them earn everything they got.”
Thad Vinson added 12 points and six rebounds for the Pirates, while teammate Sam Waller had 12 points, three assists and four rebounds.
Sophomore guard Mitrell Clark threw in 11 points and three steals as one of 10 Pirates to get ink in the scorer’s book.
Peninsula has a quick turnaround with Whatcom coming to town for another North Division game on Monday at 7 p.m.
Edmonds visits Wednesday for another 7 p.m. home tip-off.
PENINSULA 72, SEATTLE 55
Peninsula 33 39 — 72
Seattle 26 29 — 55
Individual Scoring
Peninsula (72)
Freeman 17, Musgrow 5, Vinson 12, Jacobson 2, Jeremiah Johnson 5, Buchanan 2, Clark 11, Waller 12, Jerry Johnson 4, Schumacher 2.
Seattle (55)
Gray 2, Hollished 24, Purnell 6, Miller 10, Kundukljia 2, Maw 11.
WOMEN
SEATTLE 69, PENINSULA 49
SEATTLE — The Pirates (1-3, 4-9) dropped their third straight NWAACC North Division game Saturday to the Storm (1-3, 2-10).
Details of the game were not available as of press time.
