Posted: Mar 05, 2014
Elk Grove, Calif. Men's Basketball defeated Lassen College in the 2nd round of the playoffs by a score of 88-69. Next, the Hawks will travel to Fresno to face #2 ranked Fresno City College on Wednesday, March 5th, at 7:30 PM. This will be the first meeting between the Hawks and the Fresno city Rams this season. If the Hawks come out and play like they did against Lassen, they will have a major chance to win this game.
The Hawks started the game against Lassen firing on all cylinders. The offense for the Hawks played a key role in this win. On offense, the Hawks really spread the ball around and every player came up big when their time came to shoot. 6 players on the Hawks finished the game scoring double digits. Jaycob Velasco finished the night with a double double, scoring 16 points and bringing down 14 rebounds. Rodney Cook was a 100%, 8-8 from the free throw line, finishing with 21 points and pulling down 7 rebounds. TJ Williams ended the night scoring 13 points and grabbing 7 rebounds. AJ Bridges added 6 assists and finished the night scoring 11 points. Brenden Glapion pulled down 6 rebounds on the night scoring a total of 15 points, and Mitchell Love came off the bench to add 4 assists and score 12 points. As a team the Hawks shot 45.5% from the field, going 30-66. From the 3-point line the Hawks were 6-19, 31.6%. From the free throw line the Hawks shot 66.7%, shooting 22-33. Under the basket, the Hawks controlled the game pulling down 41 rebounds. With the 6 players shooting in the double digits the Hawks spread the wealth around and had a total of 19 assists. The Hawks played lock down defense as well, 29 of the 41 rebounds were defensive.
The Hawks will need another well-rounded performance again this week against a tough 29-2 Fresno team. CRC will face a Fresno team that is 10-1 at home this season in a playoff atmosphere. Statistically wise as a team Fresno averages 73.4 points a game, shooting 44.9% from the field, 38.3% from the 3-point line, and 71.8% from the free throw line. Fresno also averages 38.2 rebounds a game as well as 13.9 assists a game. CRC averages 81.2 points a game, shooting 46.2% from the field, 36.0% from the 3-point line, and 72.1% from the free throw line. The Hawks also average 39.3 rebounds a game, as well as 18.7 assists a game. With both teams very close statistically wise on the season, this is looking to be a great match up.
Fresno City has a very young team, with only two sophomores on the squad. The Hawks will "rely on our sophomore leadership plenty against a mentally and physically tough Fresno City team", said Coach Nicholas Podesta. This match up will be a very exciting battle between two elite teams from start to finish. Both coaching staff's have prepared their teams for this quarterfinal matchup; it is now up to the players to execute on the court. Coach Podesta also said, "We'll need another collective effort from everybody to get it done on the road." If the Hawks can come out like they did against Lassen they will come out on top in this one.
The team that wins this match up will face the winner of the game between (3) Santa Rosa and (6) Ohlone, on March 8 in round 4, the semifinals.