Dida Pereira had 17 pts and 14 rebs, and Marcus Junior scored 16 pts to lead #13 Sequoias to a 66-52 win over Merced in the consolation final at the 2015 Fresno City College Classic Sunday afternoon.
But the victory was a potentially costly one for Sequoias (3-3) as standout point guard Simon Krajcovic suffered what appeared to be a significant injury with just under 9 minutes left in the second half. Krajcovic, a Loyola-Marymount bounceback originally from Slovakia, had 11 pts and 5 asts before the injury.
Merced (3-3) started the game well, jumping out to a 24-17 lead in the first half on the strength of the scoring of Andrew Judie, who had 15 pts in the first half. But Sequoias finished the half with a 13-2 run to lead, 30-26, at the break.
The Giants held a modest lead in the second half until a 17-4 run pushed the lead to 18 points with just over 5 minutes to go. Junior had 10 points, 2 assists and a steal during the run.
Merced made one final rally, putting together a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to 8 points with 1:40 left. But the Sequoias got pairs of free throws from Pereira, Kyle Hurt and Derek Check in the final 1:14 and held the Blue Devils scoreless the rest of the way to secure the win.
Four Giants scored in double digits: Pereira, Junior, Krajcovic and Hurt, who had 14 pts, including 4 three-pointers.
For Merced, Judie led all scorers with 19 pts and he also dished out 5 asts. Anthony Nolen had 15 pts and 6 rebs, and Byron Brummel had 9 pts and 5 asts.
2015 Fresno City College Classic
Sunday, November 15th @ Fresno City College
Consolation Final - 12 noon
Sequoias Giants 66:
4-Simon Krajcovic, PG - 5/8 fg, 4 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 11 pts
11-Kyle Hurt, SG - 4/9 fg, 2/2 ft, 6 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 3 pf, 14 pts
15-Derek Check, SF - 0/8 fg, 2/2 ft, 1 reb, 3 ast, 2 blk, 1 stl, 2 pts
23-Marcus Junior, PF - 7/9 fg, 2/2 ft, 4 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 3 pf, 16 pts
32-Dida Pereira, C - 6/10 fg, 5/6 ft, 14 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk, 1 pf, 17 pts
5-Turner Nelson, G - 0/2 fg, 4 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 0 pts
42-Bobby Lazar, F - 3/3/ fg, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 6 pts
20-Ben Bacling, G - 0 pts
30-Adam Kittrell, C - 0/2 ft, 1 reb, 0 pts
team rebounds: 3
Totals: 24/49 fg (.510), 11/14 ft (.786), 39 reb, 18 ast, 6 blk, 4 stl, 10 pf, 66 pts
3-pt fg (5): Hurt 4, Krajcovic
Turnovers (13): Krajcovic 3, Pereira 3, Check 2, Junior 2, Lazar 2, Hurt
Merced Blue Devils 52:
1-Byron Brummel, PG - 4/10 fg, 1 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl, 4 pf, 9 pts
15-Anthony Nolen, SF - 6/12 fg, 3/4 ft, 6 reb, 1 ast, 3 pf, 15 pts
21-Andrew Judie, SG - 8/20 fg, 2/2 ft, 2 reb, 5 ast, 1 blk, 2 pf, 19 pts
30-Lee McNeill, PF - 2/5 fg, 3 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 2 pf, 6 pts
32-Jonathan Chairez, C - 1/5 fg, 5 reb, 2 stl, 3 pts
11-Kyohei Kameda, G - 0/1 fg, 2 reb, 0 pts
22-Demetris Graves, F - 0/2 fg, 2 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 4
Totals: 21/55 fg (.382), 5/6 ft (.833), 23 reb, 14 ast, 1 blk, 5 stl, 13 pf, 52 pts
3-pt fg (5): McNeill 2, Brummel, Judie Chaidez
Turnovers (7): Nolen 2, Brummel, Judie, McNeill, Chaidez, team
Halftime Score: Sequoias 30, Merced 26
Updated Records: Sequoias (#13-North) 3-3, Merced 2-4
Merced led 24-17 before Sequoias finished the half with a 13-2 run to take the lead.
Sequoias went on a 17-4 run to lead by 18 at 60-42 with just over 5 minutes left.
Merced went on a 10-0 run to get within 8, but COS made 6 FTs in the last 1:14 to clinch the win.
