Morgan Gates
Published: November 9, 2005
Nov. 4 and 5 marked the opening of the 2005-2006 PJC Basketball Season for both the men’s and women’s teams. The teams played in tournaments – the CiCi’s Tip-Off Classic for the Pirates and the Okaloosa-Walton Tip-Off Classic for the Lady Pirates. The Pirates tipped off their tournament in the Lou Ross Center with a 74-71 win to Lawson State Community College, while the Lady Pirates made their first win to Florida Community College Jacksonville with a 72-63 victory in Niceville. The Lady Pirates finished their weekend on the road with a 2-0 record after defeating St. Petersburg on Saturday with a score of 70-66.
The Cougars trailed behind the Pirates through the whole game on Friday. At one point in the game, PJC had a 17 point lead over Lawson State. However, towards the end of the second half, with only 5 minutes to go, the Cougars came within 4 points of tying the Pirates. Leading scorers for the game were: Clinton Kilbert, 20 points, 6 assists and 3 steals; Tyrone Evans, 20 points, 4 assists and 5 rebounds: and Phil Wallace with a double-double, 14 points and 15 rebounds. The team’s shooting percentage was 44 percent, making 19 of 29 on the free throw shots. The Pirates also out-rebounded the Cougars by seven with total of 43 rebounds.
Michael Gilbert, who has been recording stats for the Pirates for 16 years, said, “This is a good start for a team with a lot of new players, and they did well even though they are a small team.”
The Pirates also now have a 2-0 record from winning Saturday’s game in the Lou Ross Center with a final total of 97-75 points against Enterprise Community College. According to the men’s Head Basketball Coach Paul Swanson, Wallace received MVP award of the tournament with a triple-double standing of 16 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 assists. Kilbert was named an all-tournament player.
“I saw a lot of contributing from all of the players,” Swanson said.
“In this game we made the extra pass on offense unselfishly and got five guys back into defensive transition.”