Coyote Athletics : Men's Basketball : News

Coyote men drop heartbreaker to Rams

By Nathan Ahle, The Daily Independent

The Cerro Coso men's basketball team traveled to Victorville to face the Victor Valley College Rams Wednesday night. Despite a solid second-half from Tyrone Taylor, the Coyotes' offensive woes continued, and the team fell 64-61, dropping their Foothill Conference record to 1-3.

Cerro Coso played the ballgame without the inside presence of Frank Saketa, who was unavailable after receiving two technical fouls in last Saturday's win over Rio Hondo. The absence of Saketa affected the Coyotes, but the real story behind the loss was an inability to put up points on the state's 91st-ranked defense.

"I thought we'd score more," said Coyotes Head Coach Larry Bird. "We just were not connecting offensively, and we gave up some unnecessary turnovers."

The game began as a tight defensive struggle. The first 13 minutes saw the Rams cling to a 16-14 lead. The next three minutes, however, would be critical. Victor Valley outscored the Coyotes 8-2 before Bird called a timeout.

"We just never got the edge back," said Bird.

The Rams led 32-22 at halftime, forcing Bird and the Coyotes to make adjustments.

"We outlined a plan on offense and defense and made some changes," Bird said.

The plan worked, as the Coyotes came roaring back, outscoring the Rams 39-32 in the period.

Tyrone Taylor led the charge for Cerro Coso, scoring 21 of his 23 points in the half.

The Coyotes caught up at the 10:54 mark, taking a 42-41 lead after a Taylor free-throw.

The two teams played evenly over the next few minutes, and were knotted at 48 with 8:24 to go.

Over the next few minutes, however, the Rams pulled away, catching the Coyotes off-guard with a change to a zone defense.

Still, Cerro Coso was in it at the end, pulling to within two at 62-60 with 44 seconds remaining after a Keymonte Edwards steal and pass to Taylor. The Coyotes were unable to come any closer, giving up a late basket.

Despite losing Saketa for the game and Michael Longmire to fouls, Coach Bird felt the reasons for the Coyote loss were not solely based on being short-handed.

"I feel that if we could have executed, we'd have won that game," Bird said.

At 1-3 in conference play, making the playoffs will be difficult, but not impossible. Cerro Coso's next four games feature conference powers Chaffey, Barstow, Antelope Valley, and San Jacinto, teams that are jockeying for position atop the standings. Bird feels that the games are crucial to the team's hopes this season.

The Coyotes will travel to Chaffey Wednesday evening to face the Panthers.

January 17, 2003

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