Solano men roll to hoops win over Alameda; Women fall to Laney

ROCKVILLE — A balanced attack and consistent play throughout helped the Solano Community College men’s basketball team get past visiting College of Alameda 84-76 Wednesday night at Solano Gym.

Early on, the Falcons (8-12, 3-7 BVC) found a rhythm that has been elusive at times this season, forcing turnovers on defense and putting the ball in the hoop consistently, shooting 47.5 percent from the floor.

From the time Mike Stockton sank two free throws to open the scoring 50 seconds in to the final horn, the Falcons were in complete control.

They trailed only briefly late in the first half when the Cougars took a 31-29 lead with 2 minutes, 55 seconds to go.

Solano rebounded and took a 35-33 advantage into the break.

“I was really proud of the guys’ preparation, I thought they focused on doing what we asked them to do,” said Falcons coach John Nagle. “We’ve been really close, and just simple spurts that get away from us, but it didn’t surface tonight, so the guys fought through and stayed consistent.”

Nagle emptied his bench and every Falcon who played, scored.

It was a big night for Fairfield High graduates as Mike McKinney led with 22 points. Lequan Gomes added 21, while Jamarae Moss and Corey Doran scored 13 and 10, respectively.

Alameda hung around in the second half, but midway through Solano began to pull away, building a 13-point lead (75-62) on a McKinney reverse layup with 2:20 to play.

A late surge by Alameda narrowed the gap.

“Great individual and collective effort,” Nagle said. “It was nice, we got to the free throw line a lot, and we had guys sharing and distributing the ball, we got some easy scores. I thought Mike McKinney did a great job scoring the basketball tonight.”

Despite the disappointing record in conference play, Nagle remained upbeat.

“Balanced scoring, good aggressiveness, I’m proud of the effort,” he said. “There’s definitely more on the horizon if we keep playing like this.”

Solano women fall to Laney, into second place

ROCKVILLE — Scoring one point in a six-minute stretch is enough to sink any team.

It cost the Solano Community College Women’s basketball team Wednesday night in a 64-61 Bay Valley Conference loss to visiting Laney in a battle for first place.

The Falcons (10-9, 7-2 BVC) carried a 29-24 lead into the second half, but it quickly disappeared in the midst of an 11-1 Eagles run that left the home team trailing 35-30.

“We didn’t open the second half very well at all. It was a pretty poor performance defensively and offensively,” Solano coach Matt Borchert said. “I know we missed some tough shots, and we had some decent looks, but I was really disappointed with the defense at the beginning of the second half.”

An Ariel Clay 3-pointer made it 35-33, but then the Solano shooters went cold, going from the 17-minute, 15-second mark to 11:35 with just a free throw made by Ariella Harper.

“There was no energy there and. It was weird. It was weird energy, the crowd wasn’t into it,” Borchert said. “It was very strange and they just took off and I though we lost the game in the first five minutes of the second half.”

By the time Clay broke through for another bucket, the Falcons trailed by 12 at 48-36.

Slowly, Solano chipped away at the lead, finally getting within one at 49-48 on a pair of free throws by Lucy Santos and retaking the lead on a Necole White trey to make it 55-54 with 3:50 to play.

“We fought back . . . It was like we had a guilty conscience after that whole thing and we just never quite got over the hump there,” Borchert said.

After that it was a battle to the finish with three more lead changes.

The Falcons took their final lead on a 10-foot jumper by Taylor Hamilton to make it 59-58 with 1:34 to play.

A pair of Eagles baskets and two free throws made it 64-59.

Hamilton came through with an 18-footer with 18.8 seconds left to get within three, but a Santos 3-point shot at the final horn bounced off the rim, giving the Eagles the victory.

Clay led Solano with 23 points, Hamilton had 15 and White finished with nine.

Santos put up six points and pulled in 10 rebounds.

Reach Mike Corpos at 427-6979 or mcorpos@dailyrepublic.net. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/mcorposdr.