SACRAMENTO (2-5) – The Hawks hosted Sacramento City College on Coaches vs. Cancer Night. The Hawks outscored the Panthers by nine in the second half to win 50-47.
Pregame festivities began with Head Coach Jonathan James and public address announcer and shot clock operator Candice Wilder giving speeches in honor of longtime assistant coach Charles Wilder who recently passed away from cancer.
In the first half, the Hawks were slow offensively. However, the Hawks relied on their defense to keep them in the game. With a low scoring affair in the first twenty minutes, defense set the tone for both teams. The Panthers led 30-24 at halftime.
In the second half, the storyline was simple. Sean Granucci put his teammates on his back and led the team with seventeen points on 4-for-7 from three-point range land and 3-for-4 from the free throw line. On defense, Granucci drew offensive fouls on Sacramento City to give the ball back to the Hawks and draw some momentum back during a twelve-point deficit at 40-28. On the next three offensive possessions, Granucci hit two three pointers and Samuel Cota hit another three to force a Panthers' timeout. With the score 40-37 in the favor of the Panthers, the Panthers turned the ball over on their first possession out of the timeout. On the ensuing offensive possession, Granucci got fouled on a jumper and nailed both free throws to cut the deficit to one. Marcus Robinson and Khari Hutt hit key baskets in crunch time to give the Hawks the lead and later seal the victory.
Robinson had nine points, four rebounds and seven assists and Hutt had nine points, three rebounds and three steals.
The next game for the Hawks is Friday as they take on Santa Rosa Junior College in Santa Rosa at 7:30 pm.