Men's Basketball Opens Campaign with 95-77 Victory at Hartnell

SALINAS, Calif. - The Allan Hancock College men's basketball team secured a 95-77 victory at Hartnell College on Saturday afternoon to open the 2023-24 season. | BOX SCORE

The Bulldogs saw a nine-point intermission lead dissipate in the early minutes of the second half as Hartnell fought back to bring the game to a 54-54 tie with 13 minutes remaining. The game remained tightly contested across the next eight minutes of play before back-to-back layups by Mylo Santos and Jahki Parrinello sparked an 11-4 rally for Coach Aye's crew. The game came to a close with a 7-0 run from Santos in the final 20 seconds of regulation after a pair of free throws, a fastbreak layup, and a dunk.

The New York native led all scorers on the night with 28 points after going 9-for-14 from the field, which included a trio of three-pointers, and a perfect 7-for-7 mark at the charity stripe. Santos also stuffed the box score with seven rebounds, five steals, and four assists. 

Taevon Pierre-Louis poured in 20 points with a 10-for-15 mark from the floor while notching a team-high of eight assists. River Ortiz rounded out the double digit scoring performers with 10 points off of the bench. Jaden Pena led the team with eight rebounds and finished just shy of the double figure mark after tallying nine points. 

As a team, Hancock excelled at the free throw line to the tune of 70.8 percent and won the rebounding battle with a 32-23 advantage. The visiting squad also managed to convert 21 Panther turnovers for 29 points on the opposite end while registering 60 points in the paint. 

The Bulldogs are scheduled to return to action on Friday, November 10th, for day one of the Hinson's Tire Pos Winter Classic at Cuesta College. They will face College of the Sequoias to open the event before matching up with Gavilan College on day two.