The Comets’ men’s basketball team went into Tuesday’s game looking for redemption, as its last game with Yuba didn’t go its way. Just over a month earlier, the Comets lost to the team in a 93-73 away game. However this time, they had the home court advantage.
The game started off with plenty of back-and-forth scoring, with Yuba maintaining a steady yet short lead. The Comets’ biggest enemy however was themselves. Within just six minutes, the Comets racked up five fouls, giving Yuba plenty of chances to keep their lead alive. To make matters worse, both the Yuba team on the bench and their fans in the crowd became extremely vocal, seeming to tear down the Comets’ morale even more.
The loud Yuba chants soon went silent, as Kaleb Allison made a huge block to subsequently score a three-pointer, giving the Comets their first lead. For the latter portion of the first half, Allison shined as he went on to score three-pointer after three-pointer, helping the Comets gain plenty of traction. Yuba’s coach, players, and fans seemed equally frustrated as they called a timeout just before the half. Right after, the game resumed and Allison scored his final three-pointer of the half, leaving the score 51-43 with the Comets leading.
Coming back from halftime, the Comets seemed eager to keep their lead, but Yuba seemed even more determined to get it back. It was apparent that Yuba had switched up their gameplan, as they opened up the second half scoring six points straight.
Over the following few possessions, the second half mirrored the first, with a few fouls and a lot of back and forth scoring. However, after a Comet ejection and their lead being stolen, the Comets fell behind 64-66. This was when it became clear that the Comets completely lost their momentum during halftime, and were failing to gain that same traction they once had.
For the remainder of the game, Yuba’s lead slowly increased as the Comets failed to keep up. As the final buzzer sounded, Yuba took the win, leaving the score at 77-86.
“Honestly I felt like we did good, I can’t be more proud of my guys. We started off hot and just couldn’t finish it. Overall, I can’t be mad, we played hard and fought well, but it’s times like this where we just learn. I’m a freshman, I got a lot more basketball to go. Really the whole team are freshmen, so we got a lot more to go.” Allison said after the game. “We were tired, but I’m not going to make that an excuse. Any good team gets tired, but they find a way to finish the game. When we’re tired, things just don’t click. I’m not going to dwell on this loss cause we’ve taken a lot worse one’s this season.”
It seems that Allison, along with his team, don’t seem too worried about what happened Tuesday night. Their only focus: their next and final home game against Alameda on Thursday, Feb. 22, at 7:30 p.m.
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