PORT ANGELES — Out of place, out of sorts and out of luck. The Peninsula College men’s basketball team struggled on both ends of the floor in a 58-51 loss to Shoreline.
The game was held at Port Angeles High School after a water main break near Peninsula College forced a campus-wide closure on Wednesday.
The Pirates struggled offensively all evening long against the Dolphins’ defense, connecting on just 7 of 37 shots to hit an anemic 18.9 percent in the first half.
Trailing Shoreline 12-5 in the game’s first 6 minutes, Peninsula appeared to be battling back into the contest after a pair of layups by Cole Rabedeaux and some solid free throw shooting helped the Pirates tie the score at 20-all with 3:39 to go before halftime.
But Peninsula was held scoreless for the remainder of the half and Shoreline’s Abdul Mohamed capped a 10-0 Dolphins’ run with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer for a 30-20 halftime advantage.
The Pirates shot a bit better in the second half (33 percent) and cut down on turnovers, but couldn’t take the lead at any point in the second half.
“I thought we showed tremendous effort defensively,” coach Mitch Freeman said.
“We just didn’t shoot well and couldn’t get any momentum going on that end.”
A pair of treys by Alex Baham and Rabedeaux tied the score at 43-all with 9:04 to go but the Dolphins were able to get to the foul line and open up a 49-43 advantage with 6:36 left.
A left-corner 3 by Rabedaux pulled Peninsula within 1 at 49-48 and a two-point basket by Baham had the Pirates trailing 51-50 with 4:46 to play.
But Peninsula couldn’t buy a bucket for the remainder of the game, missing three looks from long range in the final three minutes, all of which could have tied the game.
The Pirates were averaging 85.7 points per game entering the contest.
Despite the loss, Peninsula (6-2, 15-5) holds a one-game lead in the NWAC North Division standings over Bellevue (5-3, 15-8), Shoreline (5-3, 12-7) and Skagit Valley (5-3, 12-7).
“The team was frustrated after the game,” Freeman said.
“You could hear Shoreline cheering through the wall. It was kind of a wakeup call for our guys.
“When you are in first place teams are going to want to come in and want to beat you.”
Peninsula will return home Saturday for games against Everett on Pepsi Throwback Night. Fans are encouraged to wear vintage Peninsula College gear.
Tipoff for the women is 4 p.m. and the men follow at 6 p.m.
Shoreline 58, Peninsula 51
Shoreline 30 28— 58
Peninsula 20 31— 51
Shoreline (58) — Abe 22, Hawkins 9, Steinbrueck 8, Yassin 3, Mohamed 3, Dean 3, Luckett 2.
Peninsula (51) — Rabedeaux 10, Velez 8, Baham 7, McCullough 7, Daniels 5, Warren 5, Lo 4, Day, Losee.
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
