Corsairs defeat San Diego City 75-74 in a thrilling playoff opener

Corsairs defeat San Diego City 75-74 in a thrilling playoff opener

February 27, 2019

Santa Monica, Calif.

The Santa Monica College men's basketball team won a nail-bitter in a game that featured great basketball from both #15 seed Santa Monica (18-11) and #18 seed San Diego City (16-13). Freshman point guard Teddy Parham was fouled and scored the game-tying lay-up with 0.1 seconds left to even the score at 74-74. Parham, who has made some big plays in crunch time throughout the season, knocked down the game-deciding free throw to give the Corsairs a 75-74 win. San Diego City inbounded the ball but were unable to get a shot attempt with 0.1 seconds left on the clock.

"Teddy made two huge plays at the end of the game," SMC Head Coach Joshua Thomas explained.  "Kyle Young secured the rebound after a missed free throw by San Diego with six seconds left and passed it to Marcus Harris. Marcus quickly outlet the ball to Teddy and Teddy took two dribbles, got into the lane, and scored a lay-up while being fouled.  He then took his time at the free throw line and sealed the victory for us. "Teddy's poise was key in those last six seconds, and he made winning plays for his team."

Santa Monica trailed 46-35 after the first half, but in the second half, the Corsairs tightened up their defense and held San Diego to only 28 second half points. The Corsairs ignited the second half defensive surge by holding San Diego scoreless in the first seven minutes of the second half.

"Assistant coach Ben Doran made a great adjustment by having us switch to man defense and applying more ball pressure. In the first half, we played a lot of zone, and San Diego picked it apart a bit. I have to thank Coach Doran because he suggested the change and it paid dividends the rest of the way. I am grateful to have great assistants who understand the game and game flow during a game. So all that credit goes to Coach Doran," Coach Thomas said. "It was a much needed adjustment for us."

The Corsairs fought back from being down in the second half to regain a lead at 58-55 with 5:55 left in regulation. However, San Diego had other plans and went on a 17-5 run and led 72-63 with 1:35 left in the game. The Corsairs kept their composure and responded with a 12-2 run, which included a game-tying three-pointer from about 35 feet from sophomore Marcus Harris to tie the game 72-72. Then San Diego converted two free throws, and that was followed by Parham's heroics.

Sophomore center Kyle Young led the Corsairs with 21 points, eight rebounds, and a season-high four assists. Harris added 17 points, season-high 12 rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Freshman shooting guard LeAndrew Knight contributed 14 points, four rebounds, four assists, and a season-high four steals.

The Corsairs will travel to face #2 seed East LA (24-4) in the Southern California Regional Playoffs.