PG Chris Gorman had 27 pts and both PF Chamron Morgan and Ctr Joe Vaz posted double-doubles as Palomar upset #7 Chaffey, 67-59, in the first round of the 2011 Cougar Holiday Classic in Santa Clarita.
The 7-foot-1 Vaz broke a 59-all tie with a putback basket with just over a minute to go, Gorman added three free throws and Morgan scored a lay-up off an outlet pass from SG Jake Duffy as the Comets finished the game with an 8-0 run to get the win.
All that followed a game that was close pretty much all the way. Chaffey led by as many as seven points in the first half, but Palomar closed the gap to a single point at halftime and neither team led by more than five points the rest of the way until the final minute of the game.
Chaffey's biggest lead came after a 3-point basket by PG Justin Long gave the Panthers a 24-17 with just under eight minutes of the first half. But Chaffey scored just two points over the next six-plus minutes, and Palomar closed the gap to a point at 26-25 on a pair of free thorws by Gorman with 52 seocnds left in the half. It was 28-27 in favor of Chaffey at the break.
Palomar (3-9) took a 32-31 lead on a 3-point play by Gorman 3:07 into the second half. The lead went back and forth the rest of the way, with Palomar taking a 5-point lead at 54-49 after a 3-pointer by Morgan and a coast-to-coast lay-up by Gorman. Chaffey (8-5) wiped out that lead quickly, however, taking a 55-54 lead on a 3-pointer by SG Justin Cole.
It was tied at 59 after a lay-up by Chaffey SF Kenny Morgan before Palomar finished the game on its 8-0 run. Vaz' tip-in made it 61-59. Then Chaffey nearly took the lead back, but PF Ryan Nitz' 3-pointer came just after the whistle when Chaffey coach Jeff Klein called timeout a la Mark Fox of the Georgia Bulldogs in last spring's SEC conference tournament against Alabama.
On the restart, the ball went to Morgan, who missed a three. Gorman got the rebound, was fouled and made two free throws to make it 63-59 with Nitz fouling out on the play. Then Chaffey missed another shot and Vaz blocked the attempted putback. Gorman got the ball, was fouled and split two free throws to make it 64-59.
After another Chaffey miss, Duffy inbounded the ball from the Palomar backcourt but threw a long outlet pass to Morgan. He not only scored the basket but was fouled and completed the three-point play to make it 67-59 and seal the win for Palomar.
Gorman finished with a game-high 27 pts for the Comets. Morgan had 16 pts and a game-high 15 rebs. Vaz had 12 pts and 10 rebs, with all but one point of that coming in the second half, and added 3 blocked shots.
For Chaffey, Morgan had 14 pts, Long had 11 and Cole had 10 plus 3 steals. PG Eddie Bowie came off the bench for 8 pts, 4 rebs and 4 asts. Ctr Darius McGee had just 2 pts but grabbed a team-best 10 rebs.
box score
2011 Cougar Holiday Classic
Tuesday, December 27th @ College of the Canyons, Santa Clarita
First Round - 5 pm
Chaffey Panthers 59:
4-Kenny Morgan, SF - 6/16 fg, 2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 14 pts
5-Justin Cole, SG - 3/12 fg, 2/2 ft, 2 reb, 3 stl, 2 pf, 10 pts
10-Ryan Nitz, PF - 2/6 fg, 1/2 ft, 4 reb, 3 ast, 2 blk, 5 pf, 6 pts
12-Justin Long, PG - 3/6 fg, 2/2 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl, 11 pts
22-Darius McGee, C - 1/7 fg, 10 reb, 2 blk, 4 pf, 2 pts
1-Eddie Bowie, G - 2/7 fg, 2/4 ft, 4 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 8 pts
2-Sango Niang, G - 2/5 fg, 2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 4 pts
34-Mike Karimu, C - 0/1 fg, 1 reb, 1 stl, 0 pts
11-Johnathan Cutkelvin, F - 0/1 fg, 2/2 ft, 1 ast, 1 blk, 2 pf, 2 pts
24-Alex Varner, G - 0/1 fg, 2/2 ft, 2 pts
team rebounds: 2
Totals: 19/62 fg (.306), 11/14 ft (.786), 30 reb, 13 ast, 5 blk, 8 stl, 16 pf, 59 pts
3-pt fg (10): Long 3, Morgan 2, Cole 2, Bowie 2, Nitz
Technical Foul: Nitz
Fouled Out: Nitz 41 seconds left
Turnovers (5): Cole 2, Morgan, McGee, Niang
Palomar Comets 67:
3-Chris Gorman, PG - 10/21 fg, 6/7 ft, 3 reb, 2 ast, 27 pts
20-Chamron Morgan, PF - 7/9 fg, 1/1 ft, 15 reb, 16 pts
22-Jake Duffy, SG - 2/3 fg, 1/2 ft, 5 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 6 pts
23-Jamal Jones, SF - 1/9 fg, 2/4 ft, 6 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 3 pf, 4 pts
50-Joe Vaz, C - 5/8 fg, 2/3 ft, 10 reb, 3 blk, 1 pf, 12 pts
21-Nate Coleman, F - 0/4 fg, 2/3 ft, 4 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 2 pts
12-Vuk Ekmecic, C - 0/1 fg, 3 pf, 0 pts
33-Drew Allen, F - 1 reb, 2 blk, 2 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 4
Totals: 25/55 fg (.455), 14/20 ft (.700), 48 reb, 7 ast, 6 blk, 1 stl, 11 pf, 67 pts
3-pt fg (3): Gorman, Morgan, Duffy
Technical Foul: Jones
Turnovers (12): Duffy 4, Morgan 3, Jones 3, Gorman, Coleman
Halftime Score: Chaffey 28, Palomar 27
Updated Records: Palomar 3-9, Chaffey (#7-South, #13-Calif) 8-5
Vaz' putback basket with just over a minute left broke a 59-all tie.
Gorman made 3 of 4 FTs and Morgan scored after an outlet pass from Duffy to clinch the win for Palomar.
