Dramatic Hawks Road Victory Earns Season Sweep of Hope

FULLERTON, Calif. – In an epic GSAC battle, the San Diego Christian College Hawks came back from an early 10-point deficit to defeat the Hope International University Royals 82-80 on Saturday evening. The victory gave the Hawks a season sweep over the Royals and improved their record to 6-11 overall and 5-11 in the conference.

In the early going, the Hawks struggled to find their offensive rhythm. The Royals took advantage and by the midway point of the first half had created a 10-point gap over SDCC. Immediately following a much-needed timeout, Coach Cosby's men came roaring back. Ausage Siamu got the momentum started with a layup, and Greg Chew cut the deficit in half, splashing home a three-pointer. The gap was closed even further when Chew immediately followed his trey with a vicious dunk.

Siamu and Chew would continue to find their flow and with 35 seconds remaining in the half, had narrowed the HIU lead to just one point. SDCC was not done, however. Following a miss by Hope, Ryan Blackmon pulled in a defensive rebound and was immediately fouled. Shooting 1-and-1, Blackmon would bury both free throws with 1-second remaining to put San Diego Christian up 41-40 at the half.

With the momentum squarely in SDCC's favor, the battle was on. The teams continued to fight back and forth over the opening five minutes of the second half until a nine-point run by SDCC's Jonah Felix gave the Hawks a decent gap of their own. Felix's scoring spree included consecutive three-pointers and a layup "and-1" play.

The Hawks would continue to play with a lead until HIU made a run to take a 1-point lead with seven minutes left. These final minutes of the game would feature an epic Golden State Athletic Conference battle in which the score would either be tied or exchange hands THIRTEEN times.

With the score tied 80-80 and only 30 seconds left on the clock, the game was going to go to the team that wanted it the most. With the possession, Hope International had the first opportunity to break the deadlock. The Royals coach called a timeout to insert a play that might give them the advantage. Coach Dwayne Cosby used the opportunity to substitute in a defensive five. On the inbound, the Hawk defensive pressure caused the Royals to commit a backcourt violation, giving the ball to SDCC with 23 seconds left in the game.

Coach Cosby turned his attention to an offensive five, and his substitutions paid dividends. After successfully inbounding the ball, Ryan Blackmon drove down the key only to be fouled in his attempt at a layup. With three seconds on the clock, Blackmon drained both free throws to take the lead. When the HIU desperation shot failed to convert, San Diego Christian left Fullerton with a hard-earned victory.

It is worth noting that following their earlier game at HIU, SDCC women's head coach Anessa Wolfblack and her team stayed and showed the esprit de corps that comes with being a Hawk. The San Diego Christian women would remain at the game to cheer on the men and were arguably the loudest fans in the gym.

COACH COSBY'S QUOTES

"I told my guys if you give us a week to prepare, we can beat anyone in the NAIA. Our week started off with a great practice on Monday and Tuesday. We came with intentionality and a competitive nature. We parlayed this mindset into today's game."

"I asked Ausage (Siamu) to be aggressive and eat! He understood the assignment! We don't have a true post and really Greg (Chew) is a wing playing power forward, and Ausuge is a power forward playing center. They both have been playing out of position all year. Greg, in my opinion, has been the most consistent player in the GSAC all year.  He did not disappoint today. Greg and Sage went a combined 20 for 27 today. That's excellent production from them but we knew we would need more. We got that extra from Jonah Felix, formerly of Hope, and Ryan Blackmon, who played last year near Hope at Fullerton Junior College. This game was personal for these two gentlemen, and they channeled that energy productively. Both made some timely buckets. Jonah had a big 3 in front of our bench and of course Ryan last second heroics. We had a play, Ryan called his own number and it paid off."

"I don't have enough adjectives to express how proud I am of the guys, especially this last month. They are starting to buy in and get "IT"!"

HAWK HIGHLIGHTS

• Greg Chew earns 11^th double-double of the season - 25 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks, 3 steals, 3 assists
• Ausage Siamu – 22 points, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks, 4 assists
• Jonah Felix – 14 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal
• Ryan Blackmon – Game-winning free-throws – 10 points, 3 rebounds

UP NEXT

Join us for Hawks Senior Night on Thursday, February 16 at Grossmont College. Tipoff is at 7:30 pm.