MARAUDER MEN'S BASKETBALL LOSES SECOND IN A ROW

Photo by Bruce Jacobsen

VENTURA - The Marauder men's basketball team dropped its second game in a row after suffering a 77-74 loss at the hands of Palomar College, Saturday afternoon in the third place game at the Ventura College Tournament.

"We just needed to play harder. We were outrebounded by way too much," AVC's Osi Nwachukwu said. "I don't know what it is. Some of the shots we should have put in weren't going in. We were executing, but I just don't know what's going on. Our defense wasn't that good today. We have to go harder at each other in practice. We're going to turn this thing around. We know what we have to do. This tournament was a stepping stone and maybe these losses are good for us."

Much like last night's game against Riverside College, AVC (1-2) couldn't hold a lead midway through the second half. The Marauders took a 54-47 lead following a 3-pointer by D'Mauria Jones with 9:41 remaining in the game.

The Comets (2-1) regained their lead about four minutes later at 59-58 following a bucket by Michael Chatman. With 2:48 remaining in the game, Jones connected on a bucket to tie the score 64-64. Another layup by Jones cut the lead to 75-74 with only eight seconds remaining. Following two free throws by Palomar, AVC had one last chance to tie the game, however, the Marauders' Surako Follings missed a 3-pointer as time expired sealing the victory for the Comets.

Palomar outrebounded the Marauders 45-26 and held a 30-17 advantage on made free throws.

Jones led the Marauders with 30 points including connecting on five 3-pointers. Nwachukwu finished with 14 points and led AVC with six rebounds.