COD Men’s Basketball opens up PCAC-North play, falls to the Spartans, 96-90

Desert (1-13; 0-1) had their highest scoring game all season, as opened up PCAC-North play by staying close with a tough MiraCosta Spartans (6-11; 1-0), but a 19-7 run midway through the second half doomed the home side, as the Roadrunners fell, 96-90.

The Roadrunners, only having six players in tonight's game, showed a fantastic effort to finish the game down by six against a 13 player roster for MiraCosta. The Spartan's would pull away, but not without the Roadrunners to storm back. Desert shot 49.3% from the field, compared to MiraCosta, which shot a mere 38.5%.

Desert was down a majority of the first half, until grabbing a short lead just before the break. The Roadrunners defense held the Spartans at 32 points, which was enough to give Desert breathing room going into the half, 48-44.

The Second half would open up with back-and-forth scoring, until the Spartans would go on an 18-5 run to take a 70-57 lead over Desert. The Roadrunners would come back, dropping an 8-3 run on MiraCosta, unfornaunately not enough to steal the lead, falling 96-90.

Two outstanding performances by starting sophomore guard Philippe Salawa (Fontana AB Miller) and starting freshman forward Arion Stevenson (Moreno Valley Canyon Springs) gave the Roadrunners the stamina they needed to finish the game with only a six point deficit. Salawa led all scorers with 36 points on 14 of 21 shooting, including going 5 for 7 from the free throw line and 3 for 5 from three-point range, as well as putting up eight rebounds, seven assists and nabbing two steals. Stevenson added 33 points going 13 of 22 from the field, shooting 6 for 8 from the charity stripe and leading the team with nine rebounds.

Freshman starting guard Andre Allen (Chino Don Lugo) added 13 points on 4 of 10 shooting, with 4 of 8 from the free-throw line, adding six rebounds, two steals and leading the team with nine assists.

Photo by Rodrigo Pena and story by Ashtyn Lyneis
Information, Photos & Story provided by COD Sports Information.