By: Ally Doty
The Pensacola State men’s basketball team battled their rivals, Gulf Coast Community College, in a blood bath battle for sixty minutes in which they endured angry coaches, bad calls and a rowdy crowd.
PSC went into the game with a 3-4 conference record and a 15-10 overall season record and felt it was crucial to tuck another win under their belts. The Commodores had a slightly better conference record than the Pirates, 3-3.
GCCC won the jump ball and had an automatic foul when Dwane Minor hit 200 lb. Pirate RaAnthony Sanders, who made only one of his two free throws, still giving PSC the lead by one.
Bad calls were made in favor of both teams, causing coaches to lose their tempers.
In his frustration, Oskars Reinfelds yelled back at assistant coach Joey Murdock creating a monster out of Murdock who screamed back at Reinfelds and almost pulled him off the court.
The quarrel was unnecessary, however, when PSC pulled ahead by over half of the Commodores points, 20-9.
Leonard Livingston produced three consecutive blocks on the defensive end of the court and Reinfelds stole the ball, lost it and then snatched it back up again, sending it down the court for two more points.
PSC took control of the first half staying ahead 29-18.
The Pirates kept their swords drawn even though it seemed like the booty was theirs. They continued to increase their score. First up by 10 points and soon 18 points and they were not giving GCCC any room to breathe.
The Commodores head coach, Jay Powell, began to talk down to his team and PSC coach, Pena.
“Looks like you got them tonight Pete,” Powell yelled to his right, insinuating that the referees were sworn to PSC. Pena just shook his head, not blaming the refs for any bad calls and instead coached his players to play better, no matter what the call.
Powell had his own fans booing at him when he started talking trash to his own team. Basil Deveaux, from the Bahamas, was called off the court for “unproductive play” and was told that he was “a poor excuse for a captain.”
He also yelled at Center, Andrew Fisher, telling him to get back in the game but “it won’t even matter because he’s been sucking all night anyways.”
Positive coaching enables positive play, which is what happened on the Pirates side that night.
At7:05, there was a collision between Commodore Ronald Whitaker and Pirate Sanders, when Whitaker stood in the way of Sanders breakaway, putting them both on the ground. Sanders came out with two free throws and added another point to the scoreboard.
PSC ended up defeating their conference rivals, 69-53, improving their record to 4-4.
PSC will play Chipola College, Saturday night (Feb. 8) at 7:30 p.m. at home in the Hartsell Arena