As if hosting defending state champion City College of San Francisco wasn’t tough enough, the Gavilan College men’s basketball team did it without two of its starting guards, Derek Jensen and Austin Vojvoda on Wednesday.
Shorthanded and undersized compared with the Warriors, who list eight players at 6-foot-5 and taller on their roster, the Rams struggled with the visitor’s imposing size, shooting 11-for-62 from the field in a difficult 85-31 loss one week ahead of the start of Coast Conference South play.
“That is the best team in the state,” Gavilan head coach Tito Addison said. “They were able to change a lot of our shots using their length. They forced us to take some bad shots. But we battled the best we could.”
Gavilan’s (1-10) fluid ball movement around the perimeter in the first half created a number of open looks. Those chances were not cashed in as the Warriors took off to a 24-10 lead midway through the opening 20 minutes.
Scott Taylor hit all net for one of his three 3-pointers on the night, and Justin Wheat and Andrew Belonia contributed two-point buckets that pulled the Rams within nine at 26-17 with seven to play before the half. The Warriors closed the half on a 12-3 run to carry a 38-20 cushion into the second half.
The Warriors didn’t miss much in the game, converting 60 percent of their attempts from the floor and 15-of-19 from the free throw line. The Rams had just two free throw attempts in the game.
Rams leading scorer Jordan Ramirez was blanketed from the basket much of the night and limited to nine points, sharing the team-high with Taylor. Wheat finished with four points. San Francisco’s 6-foot-7 freshman Stuart Wesonga posted a game-high 18 points, 16 of those in the second half. Raysean Hairston had 12 and Myron Respress had 11 points.
With that game out of the way, the Rams can look forward to the beginning of the conference slate, which kicks off Jan. 4 at home against San Jose City College.
“As of right now, we are 0-0,” Addison said. “We wouldn’t have wanted this butt-whooping, but it’s a measuring stick and we have a long way to go. But we are going to watch the film and prepare for San Jose City.”
