The Armadillos fell to 6-6 on the season Wednesday night as they squandered a double-digit lead late in the game, allowing the undefeated Palo Alto College Palominos to prance away with an 18-4 fourth-quarter run and claw back a last-minute 76-73 victory at SAC’s Candler Physical Education Center.
The Armadillos led most of the game and were up 69-58 going into the fourth quarter, where they proceeded to unravel. With 38 seconds left, SAC was clinging to a 73-72 lead when the Palominos finally pulled ahead by one.
Veteran SAC Guard Demtrice Mims, who led scoring alongside SAC’s Luke Lopez, had a chance to put SAC back on top, but his three-pointer rattled off the rim and was backtapped to the Palominos, who scored in transition and sealed SAC’s fate with three seconds left. Having to go the length of the court, the Armadillos were unable to convert and lost in heartbreaking fashion.
Mims said SAC’s offense broke down in the fourth quarter under Palo Alto’s pressure.
“It’s a tight game, and when you have the lead and not that much time left, you gotta play smart and get good shots. We were kind of rushing,” Mims told the Sundial.
SAC Head Coach Jimmy Alcala said the Armadillos played too fast at the end of the game, rushing shots and not running their offense.
“They pushed us into hurry-up basketball, and we should have just slowed it down and just run more of an offensive set,” Alcala said about his team’s fourth quarter collapse.
As SAC’s offense ground to a halt and the Armadillos made critical turnovers, PAC converted easy points.
Mims looked to carry the team early in the second half as he found his rhythm and knocked down two from behind the arc to spark the Armadillos’ offense.
“In the first half, I was thinking too hard about throwing shots during plays,” Mims said. “I caught a little momentum in the second half, and it helped us keep the game close.”
SAC Center Markus Salinas was active with consistent energy and effort, particularly on the glass with 14 points and seven rebounds, including four offensive boards. Salinas also had three assists and a block.
Salinas said the Armadillos should have beat Palo Alto and will look for revenge if they meet the Palominos, who sit undefeated at 10-0 atop the conference, in the playoffs.
“I feel like we can beat those guys,” Salinas said. “Now that we’ve played them, we can see what kind of ball game they play,”
At 6-6, SAC currently sits in the middle of the 8-team conference, and the Armadillos will need a win when they travel to Trinity University for their last regular season game March 18.
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