Keelhaulers Take Control in Second Half
The Men's Basketball Team improved to 11-7 overall and 2-2 in conference play with a 74-58 victory vs. La Sierra University.
The Keelhaulers erased another early deficit in a game this season, this time on the road against the La Sierra Eagles (4-13, 1-3) on Thursday night.
After a three pointer by La Sierra put Cal Maritime down 10-4, Head Coach Brendan Rooney called a timeout to refocus his troops. The team came out of the break with a little more urgency and some good looks at the basket, but still couldn't get their shots to fall.
The Keelhaulers would trail by 12 with 10:17 left in the first half, before beginning to chip away at the Eagle's lead. Junior Patrick Counts of Woodburn, Ore. would finally break the scoring drought with a bucket inside.
Freshman Zavier Lucero of Vallejo, Calif. would bring the Keelhaulers within one when he banked in a three pointer from the wing, and then swished a three to give his team a one-point lead with 4:52 left in the half.
"Offensively we felt like we were getting the shots we wanted," Coach Rooney said. "We just had to continue to shoot with confidence, because eventually the lid would come off the basket."
The contest would have five ties and four lead changes, all in the first half. The Keelhaulers best ball movement of the night tied the game up at 24 apiece, and a sophomore Kyle Price's spinorama, push-shot in the paint tied the game again at 28-28 for the last tie of the night.
Senior Mike Meserole put the Keelhaulers ahead for good, as they took a 32-28 advantage into the half. Senior Daniel Solis of Concord, Calif. hit a three-pointer sandwiched between two threes from sophomore Kaden Young of Simi Valley, Calif., and the Keelhaulers led 49-40 with just over 14 minutes to play.
Meserole would hit two threes in a row to put Cal Maritime up 56-42 with 11 minutes to play. The Galt, Calif. native lead all scorers with 18 points, while going 5-8 from the field, including 4 of 6 from three-point range, along with hitting 4 of his 6 free throw attempts.
As the game went on Cal Maritime's defense gave La Sierra less and less space to work with, bringing the Eagle's offense to a screeching halt.
"We had to improve our communication defensively," Coach Rooney said. "When we did that, we put ourselves in the correct rotating position, which lead to stops and fueled our offense."
The Keelhaulers largest lead was 22 points with 3:14 remaining before securing the 16-point victory. Lucero added 10 points on 4 of 9 shooting, to go along with 10 boards. Price lead the team in rebounds with 10 to go along with seven points, and Solis chipped in nine points on the night.
As a team Cal Maritime shot 43% from downtown and 42% from the field, while keeping La Sierra to just 27% from three-point range and only 38% from the field. The Keelhaulers won the turnover battle by six, and finished even in rebounds.
UP NEXT: The Keelhaulers remain in Southern California as they drive up to Lancaster to take on first place Antelope Valley on Saturday, January 13. Tip is scheduled for 7:30 p.m