Mens Basketball loses foul-plagued game: Flurry of fouls in second half results in 32 total penalties against Dons

De Anza men’s basketball committed 32 fouls enroute to a 90-67 loss to Cabrillo College on Wednesday, Jan. 27.

 
“I’ve never heard of a 32-7 foul game,” Guard Ifeanyi Ekechukwu said. “They need to look into that.”

 
In the first half, both teams got off to fast starts and fouls were not yet haunting De Anza.

 
Cabrillo started the game by hitting three straight three-pointers to gain a nine-point lead, but De Anza responded with two-straight three pointers from guard RJ McCune.

 
“We knew this was an important game,” Team captain Cooper Wilson said. “We knew that if we wanted a chance at winning a conference title, we had to come out strong.”

 
The Dons were active on both sides of the ball, going toe to toe with Cabrillo for much of the first half, sinking their shots as well as getting defensive rebounds on the other end.
Around the three-minute mark, De Anza found themselves down by 12 points and were forced to take a timeout.

 
After the timeout, the Dons came out with more energy. Guard Jimmy Escudero forced a couple turnovers and hit a big time buzzer-beating three pointer to cut the Seahawks lead  to 43-41 going into the half.

 
The second half was a different story. Cabrillo came out hot yet again, hitting another three straight three-pointers, and extending their lead to 11.

 
Two of De Anza’s 32 fouls were flagrant fouls, which caused commotion amongst the fans and head coach Jason Damjanovic.

 
When asked about the officiating of the game, Damjanovic declined to comment.
Players, on the other hand, began to show their frustration against the officiating. At one point, it appeared as if a fight was imminent.

 
“I tried to be mature about the calls, but by the end I lost my composure,” Ekechukwu said about earning his second foul of the game.

 
De Anza had no answer for the Seahawks shooting, causing some frustration that lead to a flurry of fouls for the Dons.

 
“We defended some of the possessions really well. Eleven was just out of his mind tonight,” Damjanovic said referring to Cabrillo’s guard who hit eight of the 15 three pointers made by the Seahawks.

 
Wilson said the fouls became a distraction and lowered the competition.
“One of the refs couldn’t even focus on the game,”  Wilson said. “The referee was too focused on dealing with players instead of officiating.”

 
The loss knocks the Dons to a 6-13 record and 3-3 in the conference. Look for De Anza to bounce back against Monterey Peninsula Lobos on Wednesday, Feb. 3.