Although it was a close match, the gymnasium was filled with cheerful screams as the Fresno City College Men’s basketball team nearly beat their rivals, Reedley Tigers, on Valentine’s Day scoring 76-68.
FCC’s sophomores received gifts such as flowers and a framed-portrait of themselves before the game started as it was sophomore night, where sophomore students are celebrated before leaving to a four-year university.
The game started off with a burst of energy with Reedley getting the ball from the jump.
Their pass was blocked by Ram’s point guard, Milton Walker, who stole the ball and swiftly delivered a layup, starting FCC off with the first score of the game.
Reedley was not going to let the rest of the game be that way. They quickly strengthened their defense and made it difficult for the Rams to score.
As FCC’s Avery Johnson received a rebound and sprinted to dunk the ball, one of Reedley College’s guards, Lucas Sousa caught up to him and fouled Johnson, sending him to the line.
Johnson quickly got up looking fully recovered and managed to score one of the two free throws he was given.
The Tigers made an attempt at a three-pointer from the corner but air-balled directly into FCC’s hands, leading to an amazing alley hoop by Yigit Sari followed by a dunk from Jalen Royster.
Reedley quickly caught up and soon surpassed the Rams in points due to their good defense and quick layups.
Rams picked up the pace as soon as they were behind. They immediately came back and scored even more layups to ensure they had more points.
The crowd was soaring with clapping and cheering. Teammates from both schools were encouraging the players on the court and yelling out plays they thought best .
At the end of the first half, Rams were up by 10 points with the score at 36-26.
In the second half, Rams took a massive lead making great plays and keeping the ball towards their side.
Milton Walker attempted to make a layup, but Reedley body blocked him as soon as he jumped into the air, making him hit the ground resulting in another foul. Walker would make both free throws adding two points to his team.
The Rams would continue to dominate, with a score of 54-47 halfway through the second half.
Reedley, however, would soon catch up with every point the Rams made; being behind by only a couple of points.
As they started to score more, it became clear that the Rams were visibly frustrated, which led to bad communication, more misplays and Reedley eventually tying up 66-66 with just over two minutes left.
FCC’s Head Coach, Robert Haynes would call a time-out and explain that their team isn’t communicating properly. He gathered them all around and showed the team better plays using little buttons on a whiteboard.
Reedley quickly drove the ball towards their court and would try to make a trick pass, only to be stolen by FCC’s wing, Brian Carter, where he would pass it to Kuman Chandler and make a layup, finally putting them ahead.
When Chandler scored, the crowd roared with excitement. Everyone rose to their feet to cheer and clap with all their might.
With high tensions, Reedley grew more aggressive, but this would turn out to not work out in their favor, as they would foul three more times within the last minute and a half, leading to the Rams victory, 76-68.
