PORT ANGELES — The Peninsula College men’s basketball team improved its record to 7-0 on the season with a sweep of two games at the Pirate Classic Tournament held this weekend.
Peninsula beat Mount Hood 75-65 on Sunday and Lane 79-72 on Saturday to keep the Pirates’ record perfect.
Peninsula coach Donald Rollman said he knew this team was good heading into the season but didn’t have expectations about the won-loss record at this point.
“I knew were talented, but I never thought about 5-0 or 7-0. You don’t think that far ahead,” Rollman said.
Rollman said he thinks the team has plenty of room for improvement.
“I still think this is an ascending group. We’re not satisfied,” Rollman said. He liked that the team is winning in different ways. Against Lane, the Pirates shot poorly from outside, but dominated the boards. Against Mount Hood, Mikey Medlock Jr. hit six 3-pointers and the team went 13-for-15 from the free-throw line.
Rollman said Saturday’s win over Lane, from Eugene, Ore., was an emotional one. Lane came in to the tournament 4-1 after going 24-4 last year. Lane also knocked the Pirates out of the playoffs in the NWAC first round last year.
The Pirates went into the half with Lane down 33-31, but shot 52.6 percent (20-for-38) in the second half, outscoring the Titans 48-39 to win by seven.
Roosevelt Williams Jr. had a huge game, scoring 23 points with 13 rebounds and nine assists for a near triple-double.
“I’ll have to go look at the tape and see if I can find another one [assist],” Rollman said.
The Pirates only went 3-for-16 from 3-point range. But, Peninsula controlled the boards, outrebounding the Titans 45-33 and 14-3 on the offensive boards.
“We actually outrebounded them by 14 in the second half,” Rollman said. “Rebounding is key for us.”
Malik Jackson had 11 rebounds. Medlock scored 15 and Ese Onakpoma scored 11. All 10 Pirates that played scored.
Against Mount Hood, Medlock shot well, going 6-of-8 from 3-point range and finishing with 18 points. Jackson hit a pair of 3-pointers and finished with 12 points.
Peninsula has a good chance to move to 8-0 with a game Wednesday at Centralia (0-6), a team that is allowing more than 90 points a game.
Peninsula 75, Mount Hood 65
MH27 38 — 65
PC36 39 — 75
MH (65) — Wilson 33, Fowler 12, Robinson 11, Sorenson 4, Stephens 3, Hopkins 2.
PC (75) — Medlock 18, Jackson 12, Williams 8, Onakpoma 7, Ervin 7, McCullough 6, Olmstead 4, Dean 4, Johnson 3, Tinsley 2.
Peninsula 79, Lane 72
Lane33 39 — 72
PC31 48 — 79
Lane (72) — Hinton 21, Blackmore 17, Blodget 13, Pluma 12, Ledji 7, Sangemano 2.
PC (79) — Williams 23, Medlock 15, Onakpoma 11, Ervin 8, Jackson 7, D’Amato 6, McCullough 3, Dean 2, Johnson 2, Olmstead 2.
