Corsairs Unable to Contain Dominating Dons; Lose Game 58-50

Struggling to find their offensive rhythm all night, the Santa Monica College Corsairs lost at the home game to the underachieving Dons of Santa Ana College on Thurs., Dec. 3, with a final score of 58-50.

The loss came unexpectedly as the Corsairs were coming off their best start in years with a 5-1 record.

The game began rapidly with both teams scoring within the first two minutes as freshman point guard Eric Bell nailed an impressive 3-pointer to give the Corsairs their first lead of the game.

However, the Dons quickly answered back as their sophomore point guard, D'Andre Denan, hit his own three, to tie the score at nine apiece. 

With the lead shifting back and forth, freshman forward Matt Sinclair picked up the slack on the glass, grabbing several rebounds to help boost the Corsairs lead by four points.

The Corsairs lost their stride by allowing the Dons to rally back and tie the score with seven minutes left in the first half.

SMC continued to be one small step ahead until two personal fouls from Dons forward Donovan Hanley and a slam-dunk by forward Wendall Wright put the Dons in the lead.

The Dons closed out the first half with the score of 27–23 and continued their lead into the second half as freshman forward Thurman Woods scored a quick 3-pointer, thus setting the pace for the rest of the game.

There was a small glimmer of hope in the middle of the second half, when the Corsairs managed to shorten their scoring deficit by four points after trailing by at least seven points in the first nine minutes of the half.

The pace picked up again for the Corsairs, thus allowing them to bring the score to 44–42. However, the Dons proved too much to handle for the Corsairs and held the lead for the rest of the game.

With his aggressiveness in assists and accuracy, Woods seemed to be the star for the Dons by scoring most of their points and rebounds.

Unfortunately, the Corsairs had a poor performance on the offensive-end, scoring only 50 points for the game.

The team's scoring leader of the season, freshmen center Bryant Crowder, had a disappointing eight points for the night.

Although the Corsairs are among the top-tier of the their division, they were unable to contain their opponents, shooting less than 20 percent from the field, despite their defense being on point throughout the game.

The Corsairs next game will be against the Irvine Valley College Lasers at the Rio Hondo Tournament on Dec. 9 at 1 p.m.