COM Men's Basketball has had its share of nail biters in the past. Saturday, was no different as the Mariners held a 78-71 lead late in the second half, before holding on for an 80-79 victory over the Solano College Falcons. Solano College made a layup at the buzzer that would have won the game, but it was ruled to too late by the officials which secured the victory for the Mariners.
The Mariners opened the game with a 10-6 lead, but faulted a bit as Solano tied the game up at 23-23. Solano reeled off a 9-1 run before RJ Cutkelvin hit a three pointer to cut the lead 32-27. Solano pushed back and took a 38-32 lead at halftime.
The Mariners came out with renewed vigor in the second half and hung with Solano to start the period. Though they trailed 68-60 with seven minutes remaining when the Mariners mounted their comeback. Morgan scored seven straight with a three point play, floater and layup to cut the lead to one, before he stole an inbounds pass and found Eric Mireri with a no look pass for a layup and a 69-68 lead. Solano answered with a three pointer, but Mireri was fouled and nailed both free throws for a 71-71 tie. A Morgan layup and Mireri three gave the Mariners a five point lead which ballooned to 78-71 with a pair of free throws. Solano scored five consecutive points to bring the score within two, but two more free throws by Mireri made it 80-76 with 20 seconds remaining on the clock.
The final seconds took an eternity as Solano had possession and nailed a three pointer with 0.4 remaining. Marin, needing to inbound to end the game, threw the ball the length of the floor untouched for a turnover, granting Solano a chance under the Marin basket. The Falcons called three timeouts in a row before finally inbounding the ball. When they did, it found a cutting Solano player who laid the balled in as time expired. After the ball went through the net both teams looked to the refs for a final call. After some deliberation, the officials waived off the basket to give Marin the 80-79 win.
Morgan and Mireri each scored 24 points and Morgan had his ninth straight double double for the Mariners. Cutkelvin had his best career game with 11 points.
Marin looks to take their second straight game with a road game at Yuba College on Tuesday, January 8th.