LONGVIEW — The Peninsula College men’s basketball team fell to a record of 2-2 by losing to the Spokane Sasquatch 85-76 on Sunday at the Red Devil Classic.
The Pirates now have a three-week break between games as they prepare for the NWAACC crossover tournament in Albany, Ore. on Dec. 18-20.
On Sunday, the Pirates trailed 51-35 at the half as the Sasquatch blistered the nets, shooting 12-for-23 from beyond the 3-point arc and 5-for-5 from the charity stripe.
“It would be fair to say that we learned an awful lot this weekend,” coach Peter Stewart said.
“I have said all along that this team will be much better in January than we are right now. We learned some painful lessons this weekend. Hopefully, the guys have taken the things to heart and we will get better.”
The Pirates trailed by as many as 17 points (39-22) but cut the lead to just 4 points in the final minutes.
“It seems that our chat at halftime cleared the air on how we are going to do things on the floor. You hope you don’t have to do that very often, but like I said, we have an awful lot of learning to do, and that was a button that had not been pushed yet.”
Colton Worley, the Pirates’ leading scorer through the first two games of the tournament, did not play due to an illness.
The Pirates were led in scoring by Jason Gamblin’s 29 points. He also had 14 rebounds.
Other numbers for the Pirates included: Christian Manzanza with 11 points and 6 rebounds; Russell Jackson with 6 points; Trevant Musgrow with 18 points, 4 rebounds and 7 steals; and Jordan Collins with 7 points.
On Saturday, the Pirates won their second game of the season with a 62-54 victory over the Centralia College Trailblazers in second round action at the Red Devil Classic.
The Pirate men were led in scoring for the second night in a row by Chimacum graduate Colton Worley, who tallied 15 points on 5-for-6 shooting and 3-for-4 from the charity stripe while hauling in 7 rebounds.
The Pirates trailed at halftime 32-30 after a dismal 9-0 start by the Trailblazers
“It would be fair to say it was not the start we were looking for,” Stewart said.
“I was very proud of the group that came off the bench and got us back into the game. We cut our turnovers down by one-third in this game, and we continued to win the rebound battle 49-36.
“So we are doing some outstanding things, just not for long enough periods of time yet.”
Other numbers for the Pirates included Manzanza with 9 points and 4 rebounds; Musgrow with 12 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists; Ryan Rutherford with 12 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists; Gamblin with 7 rebounds and 3 assists; Worley with 15 points and 7 rebounds; and Jordan Collins with 8 rebounds.
