Men’s Basketball Falters in Second Round of Playoffs

The Santiago Canyon College men's basketball team entered the 3C2A Southern Regional Championships as the seventh overall seed on Saturday night and hosted the 10^th-seeded Allan Hancock College Bulldogs. In one of the most physical games of the season, the Hawks offense went cold in the second half and were unable to gain the momentum they needed down the stretch leading to a 62-55 defeat.

Sophomore guard Kai Smith was the only source of offense as he flushed a game-high 25 points that included a trio of three pointers. He was one rebound shy of notching a double-double and pocketed two steals in the process. He caps his SCC career by scoring in double-digits in the last seven contests.

Despite entering the second half down by two points, Santiago Canyon grabbed a seven-point advantage after freshman guard Tony Colley drained a three pointers six minutes into play. Smith kept the Bulldogs at bay with a three pointer just two possessions later, but a 22-6 run by Allan Hancock to close out the second half ended the Hawks' season.

Smith was the only player to land in double-digits. SCC shot a lowly 29.2 from the floor with their only success coming from downtown as seen in a 35.3 shooting clip(6-for-17) .Their 17 three point attempts was their lowest on the season. Furthermore, they were killed on the boards as the Bulldogs outrebounded the Hawks 43-28.

The Hawks end their season with an overall record of 22-7 with their seven-game winning streak snapped by the Bulldogs.