Imperial Valley College's Travis Alexander (right) makes his way around a Palomar College defender Wednesday in Imperial. (Eric Miller) |
IMPERIAL — Imperial Valley College utilized a smothering man-to-man defense and sharp 3-point shooting by Travis Alexander and Brandon Newman to beat Palomar, 65-51, in a Pacific Coast Athletic Conference game Wednesday at the DePaoli Sports Complex.
The Arabs (15-4, 7-1 PCAC), ranked No. 7 in SoCal and 13th in the state, remained in at least a tie with San Diego City for the conference lead. It was their fourth straight victory.
The Comets (4-14, 2-6 PCAC) kept it close on the accurate outside shooting of guard Chris Gorman, who had 19 points with 16 minutes to play.
Imperial Valley led 41-38 when it went into a man defense designed to deny Gorman the ball. He went scoreless for 15 minutes and the Arabs went on a 24-7 run for a 65-45 lead. Gorman finished with 21 points.
“We face-guarded (Gorman) with five different people,” IVC coach Tyson Aye said. “We made it hard for him to get touches.”
IVC assistant coach Andrew Robinson suggested the tactic, which became a modified box-and-one.
The Arabs primarily played a 2-3 zone early in the season and started that way against the Comets, but switched to a straight-man midway through the first half. Gorman still had 15 and Palomar trailed 33-27 at halftime, prompting the special attention given to the 5-foot-10 guard in the second half.
“We made sure he didn’t touch the ball,” Alexander said. “We guarded him face-to-face. Our man-to-man is getting better and better. And we’ve got Josue (Mulamba) down low blocking everything.”
Alexander scored a season high 17, making 5-of-6 3-pointers and one 2-pointer.
“I think I was just feeling it,” the 6-foot-1 freshman said. “After making the first one, they weren’t coming out on me and I just kept shooting.”
Palomar was intent on stopping Mulamba. The Comets have a 7-foot-1 center in Joe Vaz, but they still double- and triple-teamed Mulamba and it opened up the perimeter.
“They (Palomar) had five guys in the paint at times,” Aye aid. “They weren’t going to let Josue beat them.”
Mulamba had 12 points on 6-of-11 shooting, eight rebounds and two blocked shots. He forced the Comets to miss many more.
Palomar made only 10-of-25 shots in the second half, 2-of-7 on 3-pointers, after making 11-of-19, 3-of-8 3-pointers in the first half.
Newman scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half. He was 6-of-10 from the field, 4-of-7 on 3-pointers.
The Arabs had some important field goals from reserves Shawn Jones and Kris Cook.
Jones made back-to-back 16-foot jumpers from just above the foul line for the final four points of the first half to give Imperial Valley a 33-27 lead.
Cook’s 3-pointer from the top of the key boosted the Arabs’ lead to 49-38, their first in double digits of the game. It was a momentum builder. IVC outscored the Comets 12-3 for a 61-41 lead.
“Cook’s shot sparked us,” Aye said.
Jones, Darius Singletary and Melvin Cook each scored four, Tyler Turner and Kris Cook each had three points and Nate Williams had two points.
The Arabs (15-4, 7-1 PCAC), ranked No. 7 in SoCal and 13th in the state, remained in at least a tie with San Diego City for the conference lead. It was their fourth straight victory.
The Comets (4-14, 2-6 PCAC) kept it close on the accurate outside shooting of guard Chris Gorman, who had 19 points with 16 minutes to play.
Imperial Valley led 41-38 when it went into a man defense designed to deny Gorman the ball. He went scoreless for 15 minutes and the Arabs went on a 24-7 run for a 65-45 lead. Gorman finished with 21 points.
“We face-guarded (Gorman) with five different people,” IVC coach Tyson Aye said. “We made it hard for him to get touches.”
IVC assistant coach Andrew Robinson suggested the tactic, which became a modified box-and-one.
The Arabs primarily played a 2-3 zone early in the season and started that way against the Comets, but switched to a straight-man midway through the first half. Gorman still had 15 and Palomar trailed 33-27 at halftime, prompting the special attention given to the 5-foot-10 guard in the second half.
“We made sure he didn’t touch the ball,” Alexander said. “We guarded him face-to-face. Our man-to-man is getting better and better. And we’ve got Josue (Mulamba) down low blocking everything.”
Alexander scored a season high 17, making 5-of-6 3-pointers and one 2-pointer.
“I think I was just feeling it,” the 6-foot-1 freshman said. “After making the first one, they weren’t coming out on me and I just kept shooting.”
Palomar was intent on stopping Mulamba. The Comets have a 7-foot-1 center in Joe Vaz, but they still double- and triple-teamed Mulamba and it opened up the perimeter.
“They (Palomar) had five guys in the paint at times,” Aye aid. “They weren’t going to let Josue beat them.”
Mulamba had 12 points on 6-of-11 shooting, eight rebounds and two blocked shots. He forced the Comets to miss many more.
Palomar made only 10-of-25 shots in the second half, 2-of-7 on 3-pointers, after making 11-of-19, 3-of-8 3-pointers in the first half.
Newman scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half. He was 6-of-10 from the field, 4-of-7 on 3-pointers.
The Arabs had some important field goals from reserves Shawn Jones and Kris Cook.
Jones made back-to-back 16-foot jumpers from just above the foul line for the final four points of the first half to give Imperial Valley a 33-27 lead.
Cook’s 3-pointer from the top of the key boosted the Arabs’ lead to 49-38, their first in double digits of the game. It was a momentum builder. IVC outscored the Comets 12-3 for a 61-41 lead.
“Cook’s shot sparked us,” Aye said.
Jones, Darius Singletary and Melvin Cook each scored four, Tyler Turner and Kris Cook each had three points and Nate Williams had two points.
