Season Ends on the Road

After the loss against Benedictine University, the pioneers men's basketball team has lost sight of postseason, but send seniors off with a show.

Pioneers Conclude Season On The Road Against Embry-Riddle

By Andrew P. Kim

The Pioneers Men's Basketball season came to an end on Saturday night in Prescott, Arizona, as they faced the Embry-Riddle Arizona Eagles. Engaged in a competitive match to salvage any final string of hope to qualify for this year's Cal Pac tournament, the Pioneers would fall short and drop the match 79-90.

The Eagles assumed an early advantage, 5-0, over the Pioneers within the first and a half minute of the game before Tim Ford (JR) (JR/Chaffey College) laced PUC's first set of two points. Following a two-pointer by Ford with 17:37 remaining, the score stood 4-7 with PUC behind before the Eagles extended their lead back to six points. For the following two minutes, three-pointers by De'Rajaee Austin (JR) (JR/Cosumnes River College) and Dreymon Jones (SR/Los Angeles, CA) kept the Pioneers trailing the Eagles as close as four points, but the Eagles managed to maintain a narrow advantage.

With less than 11 minutes remaining, the Pioneers dropped the hammer and assumed the lead 22-20 following back-to-back three-pointers made between Albert Waters III (JR/San Francisco, CA) and De'Rajaee Austin. For the following four minutes, PUC's consistency kept them in the lead as high as six points before the Eagles came roaring back. With 4:14 remaining, the Eagles were back on top 33-29 but the Pioneers refused to go down without a fight. Trailing by four points with one minute remaining, Marc Williams (JR/Vallejo, CA) completed a successful three-point shot as the Pioneers were behind 39-40. With 28 seconds remaining, Williams completed two successful free-throw shots to boost PUC ahead by one point. At the halfway buzzer, the Pioneers concluded the first half on top 41-40.

When the game resumed, Ben Jazuk (SR/Vallejo, CA) laced a three-pointer to give the Pioneers a 44-40 lead 24 seconds into the second half. Both the Pioneers and the Eagles would engage in a heated battle for the lead in exchanging the ball and trading the lead for the first four minutes before the Eagles held a 52-48 lead with 15:57 remaining. Starting then, the Eagles began to increase their advantage to a reasonable gap as they led 59-53 with 13:11 remaining. As the match progressed, the Pioneers struggled in maintaining their consistency to overtake the Eagles for the lead as they came as close as four points trailing their opponents only for the Eagles to maintain and increase their lead. From missed shots to fouls, the Pioneers found themselves trailing the Eagles by double digits with six minutes remaining. Needing a late rally to keep their game hopes alive, the Pioneers would not have enough to overtake the Eagles' offense as they concluded the match and their season behind 79-90.

Overall, the Pioneers concluded this season with a 9-15 record, 5-9 in Cal Pac, as they missed their opportunity to make the Cal Pac tournament in being in seventh-place in the standings. For tonight's match, they shot 42.2% from the field, 38.7% from the three-point line and 68.4% from the free-throw line.

Leading the way for the Pioneers' offense in their final game of the season was Marc Williams, who scored a game-high 27 points followed by Ben Jazuk with 14 scored points and 14 rebounds. Tim Ford followed pursuit by scoring 13 points and contributing to three rebounds,

Dreymon Jones contributed with 11 scored points and two rebounds and De'Rajaee Austin scored nine points and contributed with four rebounds.