PORT ANGELES — The Peninsula College men’s team opened its season with a gritty 77-76 win over the Clark Penguins.
The game was sloppy as openers tend to be, especially with a team that has a new coach and so many new players, but the Pirates tipped off the Mitch Freeman era looking like experts in handling adversity.
Their top returning player and last year’s leading scorer missed the game.
Their tallest player played only eight minutes before injuring his back, and the de facto center was hampered by foul trouble throughout the second half.
They played the end of the game with five guards on the floor.
Furthermore, Peninsula was playing its first legitimate game, while Clark already had two wins, including one over the Pirates’ NWAACC North Division rival Bellevue.
“It was good win,” first-year Peninsula coach Mitch Freeman said after Tuesday’s game.
“We have a great bunch of guys that really play hard.”
The Pirates, who were playing without last year’s 18-point scorer Xavier Bazile, had four players score in double figures, led by Tyler McKinney with 18 points, including 13 in the second half.
Geno Horsley added 12 points in just 10 minutes, Markus Rawls had 11 and Daren Hechanova scored 10.
Peninsula came into the game with a size disadvantage that became more significant when KyShawn Erwin, the only Pirate taller than 6-foot-4, suffered a back injury in the first half.
“We’re a little undersized, especially when we lost KyShawn Erwin . . . but the guys, we never gave in,” Freeman said.
“And that’s a really good Clark team that’s really, I think, a pretty big team. They’ve got a couple 6-8 guys and some 6-7 kids, but I thought our guys really hung in there, stuck to the game plan of what we’re trying to do.”
Without the 6-foot-6 Erwin, Peninsula turned to Jal Deng (6-foot-3) to guard Clark’s 6-foot-8 centers Collin Spickerman and Ronalds Elksnis.
Deng’s athleticism and wing span helped him defend the post in the first half, but foul trouble put him on bench for a big chunk of the final 20 minutes.
McKinney opened the second half with a 3-pointer to give Peninsula a 30-29 lead, but the Penguins responded with an 8-0 run and held the lead for the next 14 minutes.
Each time the Pirates cut the deficit to one point during that span, Clark would sink a 3-pointer.
Peninsula finally got over when McKinney hit a pair of free throws with 6:08 to play.
The teams swapped leads for the next three minutes — there were 15 lead changes and seven ties in the game — until Peninsula took the lead for good on a fast break layup by starting guard Erron Shamlin.
The Pirates’ lineup for the final stretch included Shamlin, McKinney, Flowers, Horsley and Rawls, with Hechanova, listed as a guard on the roster, playing the post.
Deng returned to the lineup with under two minutes to play, only to foul out a few possessions later. So, the Pirates went small again.
Freeman said after that game that the five-guard lineup wasn’t employed only out of necessity.
“We needed ball-handlers in there; we needed to secure the basketball,” Freeman said.
“And we’ve got a lot of guys who are versatile players. I think we have a lot of really competitive kids that want to play hard, and they’ll do whatever we ask and play different positions that may not be their true position.”
Peninsula’s defense managed to prevent Clark from capitalizing on its height at the end. Spickerman scored a game-high 24 points, but none came in the final six minutes.
The Pirates’ lead grew to six points with 2:37 to play, and they held on from there, with McKinney securing the game with 3 of 4 free throws.
Peninsula returns to action Saturday, Dec. 7, when it hosts the First Federal Pirate Classic.
Game notes
■ Peninsula and Clark played a tight game statistically, but the Pirates biggest advantages came in assists (15 to 9), steals (9-4) and turnovers (10 for Peninsula, 15 for the Penguins).
■ Freeman said Bazile might not be eligible to return for the Pirate Classic, but expects him to be back for the Tacoma Crossover Tournament right before Christmas.
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Sports Editor Lee Horton can be reached at 360-417-3525 or at lhorton@peninsuladailynews.com.
