Hawks Compete to the Bitter End in Loss to TMU

EL CAJON, Calif. – The San Diego Christian College Hawks made a late game surge, but came up just short against The Master's University Mustangs on Thursday evening, falling 74-82. The loss moves the SDCC record to 3-6 overall and 2-6 in the GSAC.

The Hawks continue to show that they can compete against all opponents in arguably the toughest conference in the NAIA. Most importantly, they always emulate the never-say-die mentality and competitive positivity of head coach Dwayne Cosby.  

Early on, the shots simply were not falling for San Diego Christian and TMU was able to take advantage. After the first 15 minutes, the Hawks found themselves down by twelve. A late first half surge, that began with 7 straight points by Josh O'Campo (4 made free-throws and a 3-pointer), and ended with a jumper by Greg Chew, and a layup by Patrick Roberts pulled SDCC back to within 6 at the half.

The second half began as the first did and The Master's began to build their lead back. The tenacious Hawk defense created numerous turnovers, but they were unable to convert them into points. With just under 10 minutes left to play, SDCC found themselves in a 17-point hole.

Soon after, however, O'Campo once again sparked a San Diego Christian comeback with a run of six straight points. The Hawks would continue the streak with Ryan Blackmon and O'Campo combining to score 10 unanswered and decrease the deficit to only 7. Ausage Siamu was a force under the basket and when Cameron Dashiell hit a trey with just under 4 minutes left, SDCC found themselves within 4 points of the Mustangs.

Despite their incredible efforts down the stretch, San Diego Christian would not make any more headway, but the Mustangs would leave San Diego knowing that on any given day, the Hawks could have their number.

"The Master's were the tougher, smarter team today", said head coach Dwayne Cosby. "They stopped our transition offense and scored at will on their fast break opportunities. If you would have told me we would have created 21 turnovers vs TMU, I would have said we are winning this game by 10. Unfortunately, our rebounding and defensive gameplan execution were unsatisfactory. We allowed too many uncontested shots from the 3-point line, especially to Sweazie. I feel Sweazie's 3's in the second half were the difference."

Cosby continued, "I'm happy with how we competed, but we must be smarter. I am honored teams take us seriously, and give us their best, but we need to reciprocate the intent and respect ourselves. This is the best conference in the NAIA and on any given night, you can get GOT! The beautiful thing is we get another opportunity to get back on track vs Westmont. If the team that showed up for us last Saturday (against Hope) is there this Saturday, we can earn another win in the GSAC!"

UP NEXT

The Hawks host the Westmont College Warriors on Saturday, January 14 at Grossmont College. Tipoff is at 2:00 pm immediately following the women's game.