The Los Medanos College Men’s basketball team went on a 12-point scoring run in the heart of the second half and never looked back in their 72-62 victory over Contra Costa College Friday, Jan. 26.

Deaumariye Smith began the run by hitting a layup and a free throw. Andrew Hall also contributed to the instrumental drive by delivering eight points, five of them consecutive.

LMC held on to the lead after that, but by the closing minutes of the game an eight-point deficit was on the scoreboard, still within striking distance of a comeback for CCC.

Right before CCC could respond to LMC’s strong run, a dangerous play occurred. Mustang player Quincy Smith collided heads with the Comets player Isaiah Alders Smith took the brutal part of the collision as a gash in his head made a stream of blood run down his face, and onto the LMC gym floor.

According to head coach Derek Domenichelli, Smith did head to the hospital after the game and received stitches.

With 45 seconds left in the game, freshmen Raazel Watkins held possession to run out the clock. He eventually drove the ball down the court, drawing a foul. After successfully making both free throws, Watkins followed it with another bucket to finalize the score of 72-62.

The beginning of the game was rough for the Mustangs. They struggled to keep possession of the ball as the Comets’ defense managed several steals against the offense.

“We weren’t really trippin’ though because we knew we were getting the win from the start,” Watkins said.

Nevertheless, it was a back and forth contest between both of the teams in the first half until later in the second quarter when LMC went on two separate scoring streaks.

Before Quincy Smith’s exit from the game, he was one of the team leader’s in points for the game with 12-points, leading the team in field goals in the first half. Watkins and Hall led the team with 14-points apiece.

Domenichelli says his team has been performing very well as of late.

He points to season series with CCC to illustrate this, as in the previous match between the two East Bay teams, the Comets came out on top.

“Our team chemistry has really stepped up in the past couple of weeks,” Domenichelli said. “In the second half we played much better as a team with passing the ball and it resulted in us having better high percentage shots.”

Los Medanos will travel to College of Marin for their next game Wednesday, Jan. 31 at 5:30 p.m.