Delta College men’s basketball team triumphed against the Diablo Valley College Vikings 87-69, on Feb. 15 at the Joseph Blanchard Gymnasium.
The Mustangs (14-11) double-digit victory extends the current winning streak to five games.
“I thought we fought,” said Head Coach Rich Ressa on the team’s performance after the game. “I thought we kept on fighting and like its been all year, nothing comes easy for us. But we executed and made plays when we had to make plays.”
Despite the Mustangs solid victory and performance, Ressa believes there’s room for improvement.
“Actually, I think we can manage the ball better. I think we made some silly turnovers and do things that are uncharacteristic for us,” said Ressa.
At the start of the first half, the game was relatively close with the Vikings holding a short-lived 11-8 lead over the Mustangs.
The Mustangs quickly reclaimed the lead following a 10-point run sparked by the Mustangs bench, particularly No. 21 Jhordin Mellion and No. 24 Spence Monteiro.
Monteiro finished the game with a double-double scoring 22 points and snatching 11 rebounds.
“I played good, you know,” said Monteiro about his performance. “My teammates were giving me the ball, and I was making my shots and getting a lot of rebounds.”
The Mustangs closed out the first half with a 39-30 lead over the Vikings.
In the second half, the game started getting more physical as both teams incurred technical fouls, the majority of which were on the Vikings.
The first technical foul called was on the Mustangs bench for the use of improper language.
“Somebody said something,” said assistant coach Eddie Hernandez. “I don’t know exactly what he said, but they teed him up for that.”
The technical on the Mustangs bench awarded the Vikings two free throw shots which were both successfully made by Vikings Victor Mijas No. 21.
“I know the player said something inappropriate which is not indicative of how we want to conduct ourselves,” said Ressa.
The other technical fouls were on Vikings players Torian Parmalee No. 11 and Demarre Walker No. 11.
Ressa selected John Berna, No. 3, to shoot for both technical fouls. Berna made all four free throws for the Mustangs extending the team’s lead.
Berna would have a solid performance for the night, as he finished the game scoring 19 points, six assists and four rebounds.
