San Jose City College traveled to Salinas, California to face Hartnell College for the third time this season. The first two times SJCC played Hartnell they got away with the Tip-Off Tournament championship and a win on SJCC’s court. This alone was motivation enough for SJCC to come into the game with a lot of intensity.

The tempo of the first half was set when the first points of the game for SJCC were Keith Martin's tip-in dunk. Tentative defense by SJCC kept the game close in the first ten minutes of the game. The Jaguars were playing with strength, attacking the hoop at will and beastly snatching rebounds.

At the midpoint of the first half the Jags were leading 19-15 as they rotated squads in and out of the game. With five minutes left in the first, SJCC had increasing their lead to 11 points and they continued to ride the momentum through the end of the first half closing it out leading Hartnell, 34-19.

SJCC began the second half on an 8-2 run over Hartnell which widened the gap by over 20 points. The Jags insistent defense and intense offense was keeping Hartnell at a comfortable 15-point distance, but they weren’t backing off so easily. Hartnell began to shoot better than they had in the first which kept them in the game. With less than four minutes left in the game, Hartnell began to capitalize on SJCC turnovers eventually making it a 4-point game.

Although the game became close as the game came to an end, Hartnell never capture the lead. In the final minute, SJCC ran out of time-outs and Hartnell had a few missed opportunities which left them with no choice but to foul to stop the clock. Ultimately, the togetherness, aggressiveness, and intensity of the Jaguars helped them win their fourth game of the season, 67-58.

SJCC’s leading scorer was Keith Martin with 21 points and 9 rebounds.

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The SJCC Jaguars (2-4, 7-14) hosted the Gavilan College Rams (1-5, 1-17) at the halfway point of the season. Gavilan was just coming off a loss to West Valley and SJCC was recovering from a loss to DeAnza College, which gave both teams the needed aggression to fight for a win. SJCC, however, is still working towards their goal of 800 games won to break a community college basketball record. With five games left in the season, this game included, SJCC will have to win 4-5 of the next games.

The game started and Gavilan was out to fast start which put SJCC in an early defensive position.

Unfortunately, SJCC was having difficulty stopping Gavilan’s perimeter shots causing a 15 point difference. Gavilan made six 3-pointers and several shots from the perimeter to help their lead, yet, SJCC continued their pursuit. Although Gavilan was hitting many forced shots, it was their careless turnovers that allowed SJCC to plug the gap to close out the half up by 2 points, 32-30.

As the second half got underway and SJCC continued to show a lack of intensity just as the first half, but weren’t turning the ball over, also their athleticism made up for the privation of execution. Both teams scored back-and-fourth and SJCC retained their lead eventually going up by 11 points. It wasn’t until the last three minutes that Gavilan began to feel a sense of urgency and continually tried to pound the ball in the paint and from the perimeter.

However, SJCC continued to hold their ground playing great defense and eventually only turning the ball over only three times in the whole game. SJCC finished the game strong and kept Gavilan at a comfortable distance even though they were shooting 48 percent from the field.

SJCC’s leading scorers were Keith Martin with 19 points and 4 rebounds, and Muktar Abdi with 16 points.

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SJCC (2-2, 7-12) came back home to take on West Valley College (3-1, 6-13). There was a lot of tension going into the game with SJCC looking to break a two loss record and reestablish the fast break offense with many players off the injured list.

As the game started, SJCC won the tip-off and moved quickly to get on the board first. They started out with a run-and-gun attitude when there was a little more than eight minutes left in the first half and the Jags committed a foul causing a three point play to make it 16-15. This slightly affected the Jags momentum. Rather, the Jaguars aggressively responded with a quick shot by Chris Pender which was cleaned up with an insistent put-back dunk by Keith Martin.

However, with six minutes left in the first half West Valley regained the lead with a tough three, 20-23. The Jaguars went nearly scoreless for the remainder of the half and allowed West Valley to make a number of perimeter shots which eventually expanded their lead by the end of the half, 34-24.

The second half began, and SJCC came out on a defensive fury and converting steals into points to close the difference. Muktar Abdi’s 3-pointer within the first five minutes helped the Jags go on a 7-0 run to make it 31-34. Following a quick time-out and reorganization by West Valley, SJCC once again found themselves playing catch up as they had trouble stopping West Valley convert many second chance opportunities.

With five minutes left in the second half, SJCC was down by four points with most of the pressure being applied by West Valley’s consistent outside shooting and rebounds. The score was 48-52 with 2 minutes left in the game, SJCC was still down by four points, and West Valley was in foul trouble with nine fouls and counting. Although there was little hope in West Valley’s missed free throws, both teams continued to exchange shots for the rest of the game and ending with SJCC taking their third loss of the season, 53-57.

SJCC’s leading scorers were Muktar Abdi with 19 points and 4 rebounds. Also, Fabian Sebastian had 13 points and 14 rebounds.

Game Photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/frankstrouse/BasketballWestValley12?authkey=Gv1sRgCL6IromooqCFHg

SJCC (2-1, 7-12) traveled to Aptos, California to take on Cabrillo College (2-0, 12-3) following a tough defeat at home to Hartnell College just two days before. Currently third in the conference, SJCC was facing a well rounded Cabrillo College who is currently number one in the conference.

The game ensued and the Cabrillo almost immediately went on an 8-1 run. SJCC was continuously held back by turnovers and missed scoring opportunities in the first half. Cabrillo selectively converted SJCC turnovers into points going up 18-5 with 11 minutes left in the first half.

However, SJCC continued to fight by successfully defending the paint and forcing Cabrillo to shoot from the field. With minutes remaining before halftime, SJCC began to show signs of hope after hitting a serious of buckets to reduce the deficit to ten points, 23-13. Cabrillo answered with a pair of steals and 3-point opportunities to increase their lead. Although SJCC was shooting 42% in the first half, they didn't hit anything from beyond the arc to close the half, 32-16.

The second half began, and the Jaguars still had plenty of fight left. Chris Pender was able to take advantage of a whole in Cabrillo’s defense by making a 3-pointer for SJCC’s first point of the half. SJCC stayed strong inside and played smart offense utilizing speed to strike on many occasions. Cabrillo continued to keep SJCC at a distance with consistent shots. The Jaguars stayed on the attack, but they were unable to overcome the athleticism of Cabrillo. For every basket SJCC would make, Cabrillo would retaliate with one of their own. Cabrillo ultimately extended the gap with a pair of back-to-back 3’s. A quick lay-up by Fabian Sebastian was the final score of the game for SJCC. That score was followed by a Cabrillo lay-up, and then a tactful steal on defense was enough to hold on to the ball and finish the game, 63-43.

SJCC’s leading scorer was Chris Pender who went 6 for 7 from the free-throw line which contributed to his 14 points and 2 rebounds.

Game Photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/frankstrouse/BasketballCabrilloCollege12?authkey=Gv1sRgCPrIrdXV78LK_gE

The SJCC Jaguars fall short in their 56-66 loss to the Hartnell College Panther’s.The 0-2 Panthers (6-9 overall) just came off a loss to West Valley College as they returned to San Jose after winning the SJCC Tip-Off basketball tournament in November 2011. In fact, Hartnell defeated SJCC in that tournament which knocked the Jaguars out of the championship game. The still injury restricted Jaguars returned home 2-0 (7-10 overall) following a close win over Monterey Peninsula College.

As the first half ensued, Hartnell jumped out to an early lead with a few scores from inside the paint. SJCC responded with attacking the boards on the offensive and defensive end. At the ten minute mark of the first half, the score had barely broken single digits. The Jaguars muscled their way closer to the basket throughout the first half for quick scores and relied on their defense to stop Hartnell’s inside game. SJCC continued to be a threat in the paint while Hartnell found their rhythm and began to issue blows from beyond the arc. Despite Hartnell hitting 6-8 three pointers and SJCC having a field goal percentage of 35, Hartnell was still only up by one at halftime, 26-25.

The second half began, and although SJCC had a number of shot attempts, Hartnell continued on their shooting spree hitting their first three shots to increase their lead 34-25. With a quick offensive response, SJCC managed to hit a few shots to close the gap by three 34-31, but that’s the closest it would for the half. The Jaguars remained tough in the paint but were having trouble stopping Hartnell’s outside shots.

SJCC had many good plays and opportunities but were just out hustled by Hartnell as they kept the Jaguars at a distance hitting their final three with less than a minute left ultimately hitting 10 three’s in the second half.

SJCC’s leading scorer was Fabian Sebatian who ended the game with 21 points and 10 rebounds.

Game Photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/frankstrouse/BasketballHartnellCollege12?authkey=Gv1sRgCN2Pg7j3lcqdiAE

The San Jose City College Jaguars ended their two-game road trip with a roller-coaster victory over Monterey Peninsula College Lobos, 65-71. With a recent loss to West Valley College, MPC went into the game 0-1 in conference even though their overall record was just a game above SJCC at 7-10. The Jaguars on the other hand, coming off Fabian Sebastian’s double-double (27 points and 13 rebounds) in a win against Gavilan College two days earlier, are 1-0 in conference and 6-10 overall..

SJCC secured the opening tip-off, but Monterey would be the first to strike as number 4, Andrew Young powered his way inside for two points. After Moses Kinnah put SJCC on the board with a wide open three-pointer from the top of the key, the Jaguars would go on an 8-2 run. On defense, Keith Martin, Fabian Sebastian and Khory White dominated the air space around the Jaguar basket as they took turns snatching rebounds and blocking shots.

MPC retaliated with a string of three pointers and free throws to keep them in the game, but SJCC’s pressure defense, three-point shooting, and aggressiveness in the paint would give them their biggest lead of the game, 35-14. At the end of the first half, Kinnah had 20 points and the Jaguars had a commanding lead over MPC, 43-28. But MPC wasn’t ready to give up just yet.

Missed shots and key turnovers by the Jaguars at the start of the second half helped MPC to go on a 14-2 run. Midway into the half, MPC tied the game at 51 and eventually took the lead for the first time since the beginning of the game going up, 61-55. SJCC was again forced to turn up the intensity on both ends of the court, converting two missed scoring opportunities by MPC into four points, the Jaguars would pull the deficit to two. With less than five minutes in the game, Christopher Pender shot a three-pointer to put the Jaguars back into the lead, 62-61. Amid MPC’s struggle with foul trouble, SJCC was able to hold on to the lead and win the game 71-65.

Moses Kinnah led the Jaguars with 28 points hitting seven 3-point shots. Keith Martin contributed 18 points and Fabien Sebastian contributed 15 points 11 rebounds.

SJCC comes home with a 2-0 conference record to face Hartnell College who is 0-2, for their next game January 11.

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San Jose City College Jaguars hosted Canada College Colts on Saturday afternoon. Canada College was coming off three straight wins, most notably the last against a Hartnell team that won San Jose City College’s Tip-Off Tournament in November. SJCC was following up a tough Classic Tournament where the team came away with one win and two losses. The first win in the Classic against Contra Costa was a game of retribution after losing previously to them in the DVC Tournament only weeks ago. The next loss was a heartbreaker against a tough Merritt team who would go on to take second place in the tournament. The last loss was to Diablo Valley College which, at the time, was ranked 4th in the state and had beaten a Fresno City team that beat the Jags handily only weeks prior. The silver lining in this tournament was the improved play of freshmen reserves and a new tenacity on defense and an overall aggressiveness that had not been seen before as a team. Saturday’s game between the San Jose City Jaguars and Canada Colts would tell whether the team’s recent success and improved play was a tale of things to come or merely an aberration.

The first half started off fast for the Colts. Hitting on their first 4 out of 5 shots, San Jose City quickly found themselves in a hole and in Coach-Carr fashion, a time-out was hastily called to keep the Colts from running away with the game before it had begun. Seeing the Jags lacking the intensity that was thought to have been found in the previous tournament, Coach Carr decided to inject some into his lineup in the form of freshmen reserve, Chris Hunter. Immediately, the disposition of the team changed. Infused with tenacity on defense and newfound energy, the Jags quickly erased their deficit and took the lead in the game and would never look back. San Jose would provide a heavy dosage of post-scoring from sophomore leaders, Keith Martin and Fabien Sebastian who met little resistance from the undersized Canada frontcourt. By the end of the half, the Jags stood comfortably in the lead 35-17. Canada would go into the locker room looking for answers while San Jose would look to maintain the momentum gained through the first 20 minutes of play.

At the offset of the second half, Canada- like the first half- came out hard and fast. It was clear their game plan was to pressure the Jags and shoot 3’s. Though San Jose would increase their lead over 20 points, Canada would not go down without a fight, battling their way back into the game and reducing the deficit to single digits. Behind extensive defensive pressure from lead guards, Dwight Odom and Colin Wan, Canada would storm back into the game, forcing turnovers and making plays for their team. By the waning minutes of the game after a 3-point barrage from Dwight Odom, Jonathan Tuason and Ethan Peper, the Colts had reduced the Jaguar lead to only seven points but would get no closer. With steady foul shooting down the stretch San Jose City College would put Canada away 76-68.

At the conclusion of this game, San Jose City College would walk away victorious and optimistic about the direction the team was taking, while Canada College would leave with questions as to the direction of their team. San Jose City College Jaguars were lead by sophomore Fabien Sebastian 29pts, 8reb, 1blk on 11 of 14 shooting. Freshmen lead guard Muktar Abdi, who complimented Sebastian’s inside play, ended with 16pt, 4ast, 3stl on the game shooting 2 of 4 from 3pt land. Up next for the Jags is Las Positas College who at 10-wins and 2-losses will be another tough test for San Jose, where they will look to test their metal against another top ranked team.

Game Photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/frankstrouse/BasketballCanadaCollege11?authkey=Gv1sRgCOmf0eiIwNq1zwE