By Ryan Johnston
The men’s basketball team was quick to work together, but failed to overcome the Palo Alto Palominos Wednesday with a final score of 112-74.
“We didn’t play really well together as a team; we played more individual basketball,” José Fernández-Díaz, computer science freshman, said. “We tried to fight back, but it didn’t turn out well for us.”
Within the first eight minutes of the game, the Rangers were able to tie the game at 14-14.
The Rangers advanced their score to tie every time the Palominos got ahead.
Arsenio Johnson, forensic science freshman, made an impressive maneuver when he threw the ball behind him in a wraparound, hitting one of the Palominos in the chest and collecting the rebound to score and tie at 18-18.
Yet, the ties diminished when the Palominos got ahead by 11 points with five minutes left in the first half.
The Rangers were able to pull back and with one second left on the board, business freshman Raymond Perez was able to score to bring the Rangers within three points of overcoming the Palominos at 48-45.
“We want to have a spot for next semester,” Fernández-Díaz said. “Sometimes, we make bad decisions. We’re not a bad team, it’s just that sometimes we show up and then we don’t.”
The second half started with the Palominos gaining a bigger lead, sinking for 12 points within five minutes while the Rangers gained only 3 points.
Within the next 10 minutes, the Palominos were able to garner more points against the Rangers and break 100.
In the last minute, it was just time for the Palominos to run down the clock, leaving the final score 112-74.
Both teams made many mistakes throughout the game, with multiple fouls, turnovers and stepping out-of-bounds, as well as players losing a grip on the ball; however, the Palominos were able to make up for their mistakes better than the Rangers were.
“I think we’ve done pretty well,” Fernández-Díaz said. “We just need everyone to show up on their A game. We didn’t show up like wwe should have, but next semester, we’ll be a different team.”
At the moment, the Rangers’ season is 3-3.
Their last game for this semester will be against St. Philip’s College at 7 p.m. Dec. 5 at the East Side college.
“We’re going to try to practice and work harder on our offense and defense and bring a good attitude,” Fernández-Díaz said. “This will be our last game; we want to make something of it.”