Men’s basketball: Pirates improve to 2-0

 

Peninsula’s men rebounded from a slow start to hand to take a 101-88 victory from the Washington Athletic Club Nov. 20 in Port Angeles.

Djuan Smith led six Pirates (2-0) in double figure scorers on the night with 24 points and five steals.

The Washington Athletic Club, with a roster full of former Division I and II players — including Hans Gasser, a four-year varsity letter winner from University of Washington — raced to a 7-0 lead against the younger Pirate squad. 

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P.C. coach Lance Von Vogt called a timeout to the settle the inexperienced team down and they began to slowly get into their groove until Peninsula finally took the lead with eight minutes remaining in the half, 28-27 on a Daniel Sims 3-pointer. 

The Pirates put on a show the final eight minutes of the first half outscoring WAC 30-15 to race into the locker room with a 55-42 advantage. 

The Pirates were never seriously threatened in the second half with the lead hovering around fifteen points most of the second half, although WAC did make a late run and cut the lead to eight with 3:23 remaining in the game. The Pirates responded with two consecutive baskets and two consecutive stops defensively that padded their cushion back to 13. 

Sims hit for 14 points and eight assists while G.P. Panoam dominated inside with 13 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Other double figure scorers for the Pirates were Salim Gloyd (14 points), TreShawn King Dunbar (12) and Donald Gaddy (10). 

Â"We showed how good we can be and also how bad we can be all in one night,Â"  Von Vogt said. "ÂOur team showed flashes of what we will be consistently come league play. I am proud of how far we have come in such a short time with twelve new faces on the squad, but we are no where close to where we need to be.Â"

GasserÂs led the Washington Athletic Club with 20 points and eight rebounds.  Ryan Webb, a former Seattle University All-Decade player, recorded the only double-double of the night with 14 points and 14 assists. Stephen King, a two-year captain for the Ohio University Bobcats, contributed 18 points to the WAC cause.

The Pirates return to the court for the Inaugural First Federal Pirate Classic on Friday, Nov. 30, and Saturday, Dec. 1. Other participating teams are Shoreline Community College, Seattle Mountaineers and the Blue Angels.