The women’s and men’s basketball teams fed off fan energy and found a way to win in two close games Saturday night against Big 8 Conference rival Diablo Valley College. The women won 62-59 and the men won 54-50.

The sights and smells of Haehl Pavillion Saturday night included full stands, long lines at the snack bar, the smell of Mombo’s Pizza in the air and vendors offering flyers and freebies. SRJC cheerleaders performed during timeouts and Rosco the Bear Cub patrolled courtside rallying the crowd.  Throughout both games Army recruiters fired t-shirts into the stands at boisterous fans.

Halftime during both games was highlighted by CYO basketball exhibition games. During halftime of the men’s game there was a cash grab and a shooting contest for cash. One CYO coach was thrilled to see his little brother and other kids have the chance to participate in the festivities. “It was great to see one of my St. Rose boys, Jacob Monday and Justin Sweet from St. Eugene’s make $25,” CYO coach and SRJC student Zack Monday said.

The Bear Cubs faced a 3-6 DVC team they had handily beat in January, 70-48.  The Bear Cubs came out flat, shooting poorly and seemingly taken off guard by the Mustangs’ intensity.

Throughout the game Bear Cubs’ sophomore guard Jen Tsurumoto was a woman on fire, running up and down the court on offense and defense, drawing fouls and creating havoc.  Tsurumoto finished with 13 points and a solid 7-9 from the free throw line.

Freshmen forward Anandi Jiminez had an outstanding game, especially in the second half when she was a ball hawk, she caused turnovers, got key rebounds and knifed through defenders drawing fouls going 8-8 from the line and putting the Bear Cubs on top for good in the closing seconds of the game.

The crowd became loud and rambunctious throughout the game, but in the closing moments the cheers were invaluable. “The turnout was great. I think it really mattered down there at the end of the game where we needed a little extra firepower and the fans were there. It was awesome,” head coach Lacey Campbell said.

One of the Bear Cubs’ team leaders and deep threats Jenna Reed re-injured the shoulder she dislocated over the summer.  “I had surgery last summer and it obviously didn’t rehab,” Reed said.

DVC nearly pulled off the upset, taking the lead by one point with less than a minute left, however Jiminez’s clutch free throws sealed the victory.  “We weren’t ready to play. It was a good wake up call for us going into the second half stretch of conference,” Reed said.

Tsurumoto led the Bear Cubs with 13 points, Jiminez had 12 and Whitney Edens and Ashley Morgan each added 10 and 8 points.  “Anandi stepped up in a big way. She was able to get the stops and she was able to get to the rim. Edens had some big buckets for us. Everyone stepped up when it came down to it,” Campbell said.

The women’s team is tied for first place in the conference with Cosumnes River College with a record of 10-1. SRJC is currently ranked No.14 in the state.

The men’s team faced a hot, 7-2 DVC team on the heels of the Bear Cubs’ top standings position in the conference. DVC established a presence inside the paint early, scoring often and out rebounding the Bear Cubs.

DVC star player Brian Goins proved to be a challenge for the Bear Cub defense as he scored a game high 32 points. “We were trying to do anything to keep Goins off balance. We were setting ball screens, we were getting on him, the big guys were doing a pretty good job of helping out, but he just needs a little room. He was getting to the foul line a lot and we went to the zone a few times,” head coach Craig McMillan said.

In the second half the Bear Cubs began to make plays on defense and penetrate on offense while DVC consistently missed shots from the outside. Bear Cubs guard Sama Taku was active on both sides of the ball and scored 16 points.

DVC played well on defense throughout the night but late in the game freshman guard Xavier McCall began to make strides in breaking down the DVC defense, “Xavier McCall did a really good job, McMillan said. Their pressure defense we needed to get some penetration against it. Sama and Xavier are our two best penetrators, They were really keying on Sama. To have a second penetrator come in there really helped us out; he broke down their defense.”

In the second half freshman forward Connor Gillett and three-point specialist Kevin Aronis got some key rebounds. Aronis caught fire in the final minutes from outside making multiple three-pointers to put the Bear Cubs back ahead and bring the crowd to a thunderous applause.

“The turnout was phenomenal and I don’t think we would have won the game without all the energy from the crowd and the momentum it gives you when you get on a little roll. It’s great to have the support from the community and I was really happy with all the fans,” McMillan said.

Aronis finished with five three-pointers and 16 points, slightly above his season average of 12.4 points per game. The Bear Cubs only shot 73 percent from the foul line, but were able to get to the line enough times to score 19 points, more than a third of their total points scored. The men’s team is currently ranked No. 3 in the state.