The De Anza college men’s basketball team fell 61-53 to the Foothill Owls on Friday, Nov. 13, in its first home game of the season.

The Dons started the game with more energy than their opponents. Every time the Dons scored, they went straight into a full court press where they pressured the Foothill guards and caused turnovers.

The high intensity press transitioned into lockdown defense, with Foothill struggling to earn every basket.

On defense, it seemed as if freshman point guard Nate Viera was glued to the opposing guard from Foothill. Even when Viera’s man didn’t have the ball, his eyes were locked on his opponent as if to say, “You can’t score on me.” At one point in the first half, the Foothill guard even shoved Viera in the chest, showing his extreme frustration.

Offensively, De Anza has several players who can put the ball in the basket. For one, freshman DJ Rodriguez is dangerous from behind the three point line. Rodriguez’s teammates were looking to get him the ball as much as possible, and he rewarded them by making his shots. At halftime the score was tied 21-21.

After the break, Foothill came out scoring and took an early lead. However, De Anza was not ready to give up, resulting in several lead changes. With 11 minutes left in the game, the score was still tied 34-34.

The turning point that decided the game was simple: Foothill got too many offensive rebounds. Many times De Anza was down by a couple points and needed a stop on defense badly, but Foothill offensive rebounds just sucked the energy out of their efforts.