In another matchup against a team ranked in the state of California, the Spartans again battled tough in a close game before coming up short in another exciting finish. The MiraCosta College men's basketball team fell to Mt. San Jacinto College for this second time this season, this time by a score of 93-88.
Daymarcco Green led MiraCosta (12-15 overall, 2-6 PCAC-North), with 15 points, while Brady Twombly had 13 points and four Spartans (Anthony Hubbard, Josh Pilling, Kenan Brooks and Brett Hollins) all added 11. The scoring for MiraCosta was rounded out by two other guys with solid games as Weijie Zhang had 10 and Billy Brown finished with six.
After trailing by 14 early in the second half, MiraCosta battled all the way back with a big 19-5 run to tie the game at 57 with 11:30 remaining. But, the Eagles responded with a 10-0 run to take back control, and then went ahead by 15 at 78-63 with only 4:50 left to play.
The Spartans, however, refused to quit and gave Mt. San Jacinto a run for their money, forcing the Eagles to win the game from the free throw line, a task that did not come easy. With Mt. San Jacinto keeping MiraCosta's hopes alive, the Spartans used five straight points by Twombly, a 3-pointer and an and-1 by Green, and another and-1 and a clutch three by Zhang to pull all the way to within four a 86-82 with just under 50 seconds left.
With the loss, MiraCosta falls to 1-2 against Mt. San Jacinto this season after defeating the Eagles by nine in the first matchup between the two teams back in December. Mt. San Jacinto saw its record rise to 20-10 overall and 6-2 in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference - North Division as it won for the six time in its last seven games and moved into sole possesson of second place in the conference. The Eagles also sport the leading scorer in the conference, Tre Nottingham, and two of the top five 3-point shooters in the league.
Next up, MiraCosta will need two wins next week against Palomar College (Wednesday, Feb. 15) and San Diego Miramar College (Friday, Feb. 17) to keep its playoff hopes alive.