Men's Basketball: Teran, Pioneers hold on against Bethesda
By ALONSO TACANGA/Valley Press
Jan. 5, 2016
LANCASTER - The ball traveled as if in slowmotion from behind the three-point line during the game's final seconds on Tuesday night, signifying the potential completion of a meltdown that started with the University of Antelope Valley ahead by double digits just moments earlier.
"What was going through my mind? Hoping that he missed," UAV guard Franky Teran said.
As the would-be-game-tying trey from Bethesda University's Justin Latham drew nothing but the top of the backboard and UAV corralled the rebound with 10 seconds to go, the Pioneers (7-7) were finally able to exhale in the midst of a wild 78-74 victory that was their sixth in their last seven games.
Behind Teran's career-high 26 points - the most ever scored by a Pioneer - UAV ultimately shook off a Flames team that came into the Pioneer Event Center with a 1-13 record.
The Pioneers needed every one of them in the end.
"Franky is one of the first guys that I recruited. I really wanted Franky," UAV head coach Brad Rogers said. "He's a great kid, does everything that we want a guy in our program to do."
Teran, who earlier became the first-ever Pioneer to be named Cal Pac Conference player of the week, did it all on Tuesday, going 8-for-15 from the floor and making 4 of 5 three-point attempts.
He went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line, including two with 1 minute left in the game to give the Pioneers a 74-64 lead.
The Flames down by double-digits and finally beginning to look like their record, most attendants felt the final 60 seconds would be a mere formality en route to the completion of UAV's climb back to .500 after starting the season 1-6.
But Bethesda had ideas no team with a .071 winning percentage should have.
"We thought we had it in the bag, but it's never like that," Teran said. "We got to finish from beginning to end."
A Francisco Aguilar 3-pointer, two UAV missed free throws, a Mark Ware layup, a Piooner turnover and a Jamelle Holieway three later, the Flames were within 74-72 with 30 seconds to go.
Kadeem Minor, who scored 11 points, was then sent to the free throw line, but only made 1 of 2, opening the door for Bethesda to send the game into overtime.
Thankfully for the Pioneers, the modest Flames had no more magic left. Following Latham's ugly miss, Joe McNiff and Jacob Bowman combined to make 3 of 4 free throws to keep Bethesda at bay and send UAV into conference play on a high note.
"We were up by as many as 11 or 13 (in the second half) and to give that up at the end, yeah, it's a little bit of a deflator," Rogers said. "But we pulled it out and hopefully it gives us a little confidence going into conference."
McNiff hit 3 of 5 three-pointers and ended up with 14 points and three steals, but had seven turnovers. Teran had a team-high seven rebounds and four steals while turning the ball over four times.
For Bethesda, which went into halftime up 32-31, Ware had a double-double, scoring 20 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. David Jelks scored 17 points and Holieway added 14.
"I respect those guys," Teran said of Bethesda. "It's hard when you're not winning and stuff. It's hard mentally and physically. I respect them for coming out and playing hard."
Early on, the Flames looked good enough to double their win total for the season.
After Teran buried back-to-back 3-pointers and McNiff made another one shortly after to complete a 9-0 run for UAV with 11:54 to go in the first half, Bethesda trailed 17-12 and was forced to call a timeout.
Immediately after, the Flames would start their comeback. A 16-4 run in which Jelks scored 10 points gave Bethesda a 28-21 lead.
"We've been starting slow for a while and I don't know what we got to do to get things going at the start," Rogers said.
The Pioneers chopped at the lead behind a free throw parade, but the Flames went into halftime with a one-point advantage.
In the second half, UAV picked up its defensive intensity and led by 10 after a Bowman layup with 5:16 to go in the game.
The lead ballooned to as many as 13 points with 1:38 to go, around the time the Flames caught on fire.
Behind Teran's offensive onslaught and one final miss by Bethesda, the Pioneers, who start Cal Pac play on Saturday at home against Embry-Riddle (Arizona), had just enough to prevent a horrible end to the first game of 2016.
"Now it's time to continue that momentum going into conference," Rogers said.
Jan. 5, 2016
LANCASTER - The ball traveled as if in slowmotion from behind the three-point line during the game's final seconds on Tuesday night, signifying the potential completion of a meltdown that started with the University of Antelope Valley ahead by double digits just moments earlier.
"What was going through my mind? Hoping that he missed," UAV guard Franky Teran said.
As the would-be-game-tying trey from Bethesda University's Justin Latham drew nothing but the top of the backboard and UAV corralled the rebound with 10 seconds to go, the Pioneers (7-7) were finally able to exhale in the midst of a wild 78-74 victory that was their sixth in their last seven games.
Behind Teran's career-high 26 points - the most ever scored by a Pioneer - UAV ultimately shook off a Flames team that came into the Pioneer Event Center with a 1-13 record.
The Pioneers needed every one of them in the end.
"Franky is one of the first guys that I recruited. I really wanted Franky," UAV head coach Brad Rogers said. "He's a great kid, does everything that we want a guy in our program to do."
Teran, who earlier became the first-ever Pioneer to be named Cal Pac Conference player of the week, did it all on Tuesday, going 8-for-15 from the floor and making 4 of 5 three-point attempts.
He went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line, including two with 1 minute left in the game to give the Pioneers a 74-64 lead.
The Flames down by double-digits and finally beginning to look like their record, most attendants felt the final 60 seconds would be a mere formality en route to the completion of UAV's climb back to .500 after starting the season 1-6.
But Bethesda had ideas no team with a .071 winning percentage should have.
"We thought we had it in the bag, but it's never like that," Teran said. "We got to finish from beginning to end."
A Francisco Aguilar 3-pointer, two UAV missed free throws, a Mark Ware layup, a Piooner turnover and a Jamelle Holieway three later, the Flames were within 74-72 with 30 seconds to go.
Kadeem Minor, who scored 11 points, was then sent to the free throw line, but only made 1 of 2, opening the door for Bethesda to send the game into overtime.
Thankfully for the Pioneers, the modest Flames had no more magic left. Following Latham's ugly miss, Joe McNiff and Jacob Bowman combined to make 3 of 4 free throws to keep Bethesda at bay and send UAV into conference play on a high note.
"We were up by as many as 11 or 13 (in the second half) and to give that up at the end, yeah, it's a little bit of a deflator," Rogers said. "But we pulled it out and hopefully it gives us a little confidence going into conference."
McNiff hit 3 of 5 three-pointers and ended up with 14 points and three steals, but had seven turnovers. Teran had a team-high seven rebounds and four steals while turning the ball over four times.
For Bethesda, which went into halftime up 32-31, Ware had a double-double, scoring 20 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. David Jelks scored 17 points and Holieway added 14.
"I respect those guys," Teran said of Bethesda. "It's hard when you're not winning and stuff. It's hard mentally and physically. I respect them for coming out and playing hard."
Early on, the Flames looked good enough to double their win total for the season.
After Teran buried back-to-back 3-pointers and McNiff made another one shortly after to complete a 9-0 run for UAV with 11:54 to go in the first half, Bethesda trailed 17-12 and was forced to call a timeout.
Immediately after, the Flames would start their comeback. A 16-4 run in which Jelks scored 10 points gave Bethesda a 28-21 lead.
"We've been starting slow for a while and I don't know what we got to do to get things going at the start," Rogers said.
The Pioneers chopped at the lead behind a free throw parade, but the Flames went into halftime with a one-point advantage.
In the second half, UAV picked up its defensive intensity and led by 10 after a Bowman layup with 5:16 to go in the game.
The lead ballooned to as many as 13 points with 1:38 to go, around the time the Flames caught on fire.
Behind Teran's offensive onslaught and one final miss by Bethesda, the Pioneers, who start Cal Pac play on Saturday at home against Embry-Riddle (Arizona), had just enough to prevent a horrible end to the first game of 2016.
"Now it's time to continue that momentum going into conference," Rogers said.