Cougar Men's Basketball Starts League Play with Road Victory over CGCC

PHOENIX ---

The South Mountain Community College men's basketball team (8-1, 1-0) defeated Chandler-Gilbert CC 65-56 in an ACCAC Division II road contest on Wednesday, Nov. 26. Freshman I'yar Shadowvine led SMCC with 21 points and five 3-pointers while sophomore Blake Carabio added 15 off the bench as the Cougars posted an impressive road victory over the Coyotes to open their league slate. 

The teams exchanged blows in the first half and ultimately went into the locker room tied at 27. The Coyotes got out quickly in the second half and led 36-27 with just under 16 minutes to play. Freshman Travis Vasquez answered with a 3-pointer to pull SMCC within four, and after CGCC extended the lead back to five, SMCC got a lay-up from Vasquez and five-straight points from Shadowvine to tie the contest at 39-39.

From there, Shadowvine connected on another 3-pointer to put the Cougars ahead 50-44 with eight minutes left, and Carabio re-established the six-point lead at 53-47 with a 3-pointer off an offensive rebound from Jadden Jones with seven to go. 

The Coyotes continued to fight back and closed to within 53-51 with about 4:30 to play before freshman Semajay James made a pair of free throws to give SMCC a two-score advantage. He pushed the lead to 57-51 with a coast-to-coast lay-up, and CGCC would get no closer as SMCC pulled out the road victory. 

"We went into this game knowing how important it was. We had to hit the road against a team that has been at the top of the conference the previous two seasons, and they were 30-6 at home the past two years for a reason," said SMCC head coach Cory Hoff. "Our guys came out with a defensive mindset and knew we had to fight for 40 minutes. We were able to answer every punch that they threw at us tonight. Our guys took a lot of pride in holding them to their lowest scoring total of the season. It won't show up in the box score, but Gak, Jadden, and Semajay were excellent defensively inside against their bigs. We made enough shots in the second half to pull it out. It's always good to go into Thanksgiving break after a win. I am proud of our guys, but we have to catalogue this one & prepare for another tough road ACCAC match-up on Wednesday."

Shadowvine finished 7 of 15 from the field and 5 of 9 from downtown in 36 minutes. He added three rebounds and two assists without committing a turnover or a foul. 

Carabio went 5 of 13 overall and 4 of 8 from 3-point range in 21 minutes. He added two rebounds, one assist, and one steal. 

James was third on the team with eight points, adding two rebounds, three assists, and a steal in 19 minutes off the bench. Sophomore Parker Escalante and Vasquez scored seven points apiece. Escalante had three rebounds, one assist, and two steals, while Vasquez posted three rebounds and three assists. 

Jones led SMCC with seven rebounds and added two assists, two points, and a steal in 26 minutes. 

The victory snapped the Cougars' six-game losing streak in the series and was their first win against the Coyotes since a 66-58 win on Jan. 25, 2023.