De Anza College’s men’s basketball team pulled off a suspense-filled 74-72 win against the Ohlone College Renegades away on Jan. 16.
This close contest came after its overtime victory against Cañada College on Jan. 14, bringing the team’s conference record to 2-2.
Coming down to the wire, the Renegades led by one point with under a minute left.
A critical defensive stop gave guard Mehki Thomas (De Anza No.2), 20, political science major, a fast break opportunity; Thomas scored the double-contested lay-up with 33 seconds left on the clock.
De Anza started off slow, missing its first four shots and taking an early 7-0 deficit. The team fought back through a series of defensive stops and scored, keeping the game close, but Ohlone broke the dam open and established a 13-point lead at the four minute mark.
“Unfortunately, the last few games, we (De Anza) have been a better second-half team,” head coach Joe Berticevich said. “When you hit some shots and defend a little bit, we’re gonna be in the game.”
Thomas, the game’s top scorer, added eight of his 25 points to bridge the gap, finishing the half 40-36 and trailing the Renegades by four.
“We’ve been down in a lot of games,” Thomas said. “We come back.”
Although the Mountain Lions shot more efficiently in the second half, they faced the same rebounding struggles that hampered it since the season began.
“With our size (height), we’re limited,” Berticevich said after De Anza lost the rebound battle, ending up 51-33. “We fought hard and have to give the guys (Ohlone) credit.”
Despite such challenges, the Mountain Lions stuck around to keep the game close, never allowing Ohlone to obtain a larger lead than five points in the second half.
The game became a back-and-forth affair once clutch time began, players kept the scoring margins close at one point. Clutch time is a reference to the final 5 minutes of a basketball game, during which the score is within five points of one another.
Heading into the last minute, Ohlone held the one point lead, but a defensive stop and an outlet pass from guard and forward Dasan Potson (De Anza No. 15), 19, psychology major, to Thomas gave De Anza a fast break layup and lead.
“Defense wins games,” Potson said.
Potson scored 8 of De Anza’s last 17 points and accommodated his play to toughness and emphasis on the defensive side of the floor.
The Renegades ran past half court, calling a timeout with 27 seconds left, giving itself a chance to set up a play on De Anza’s side of the floor. Ohlone passed until center Kiratraj Sanghera (Ohlone No. 5) lost the ball under pressure; guard-forward Theo McDowell (De Anza No. 24), 19, business major, recovered it on a hustle play, diving onto it and securing possession from the jump ball.
Ohlone fouled McDowell with 8 seconds on the clock, sending him to the free-throw line; making the first shot, missing the second. Ohlone called a timeout with 4.1 seconds left, down two points.
“Man, I was thinking a little of those free throws,” McDowell said. “I normally make those. But you know we have to do what we do,”
Ohlone inbounded the ball at the top of the 3-point line, where point guard Omar Babikir (Ohlone No. 1) dribbled to the paint, missing a floating shot to tie the game. Sanghera grabbed the miss for his 22nd rebound, hit a put-back shot at the buzzer, but hit the iron and missed.
Berticevich gave the Renegades credit for the tough play, emphasizing how important having better first halves and rebounding are to the Mountain Lions moving forward.
De Anza will head up the peninsula to the College of San Mateo on Jan. 21, where the Mountain Lions will play the Bulldogs at 7 p.m.
