Lindsey Chavers
Published: November 22, 2006
The PJC men’s basketball team (6-0) defeated Bishop State Community College Nov. 20, 88-82.
They managed to remain undefeated in the 53- foul game.
“They turned it into a junk game because they are small,” said Head Coach Paul Swanson about the number of fouls and the way his team played. “We knew it was coming, but it’s hard to prepare for a team like Bishop.”
The first half gave the Pirates quite a scare. At the halfway point they were 16 points down, 34-18. Within two minutes they had had scored enough to bring them to only 3 points behind.
With two minutes left in the first half, Darrell Baker tied the game at 40-40 with a slam dunk and then was fouled. He made the free throw, putting the Pirates in the lead, where they remained for the rest of the first half, 46-45.
The second half brought on more close calls for PJC. The much taller Bishop State players were shooting and making 3-point shots that put them back in the lead quickly. But the Pirates did not let that last long.
After struggling back and forth, a 3-point shot from Lasha Parghalava put PJC back ahead. But the fight was far from over. Close calls and many fouls later, the Pirates started to pull away from the Wildcats, 80-74.
The game wasn’t over yet. With less than 2 minutes left, Luis Buther and Vernon Carr both fouled out in consecutive plays. The Wildcats closed the gap the Pirates had to 85-82, with successful free throws brought on by a Parghalava foul.
It was over though, and the very vocal and supportive crowd knew it. In the last 30 seconds Bishop State fouled Miles Taylor and Tyler Cannon, ending the game, 88-82.
Parghalava lead the scoring with 21 points, which included three 3-point shots. Baker contributed 17 points, 11 of which came thanks to successful free throws.
“We knew it was going to be an ugly game,” said Swanson, “But they turned it out and won it.”