BASKETBALL: 'Resilient' AACC Can't Regain Winning Streak

The following article was submitted to the Broadneck Patch by Duane Herr, physical education and athletic assistant at Anne Arundel Community College (AACC).

The Anne Arundel Community College men's basketball team hosted Cecil College over the weekend and despite their resilience lost the game 82-94.

Cecil, who began the season very strong, had just ended an 11-game losing streak and entered the game with an 11-14 overall record and 6-8 MD Juco conference mark. They came out of the gates hot and built a substantial lead early on in the game.

The Pioneers (13-6, 5-8), coming off of a loss to a very good Baltimore City team, started slow but fought their way back. With a late first-half surge, AACC managed to tie the game 39-39 entering the half.

Despite the momentum shift before the recess, Cecil came out strong to start the second half and regained their lead. Anne Arundel chipped away, coming back to as close as 10 points down at certain points of the second half, but they wouldn’t get any closer than that.

Jalen Lester led AACC with 33 points and he also added 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals. Jarvez Pierce and James Aorilio each scored 13 points. Pierce tallied 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Aorilio grabbed 6 rebounds. Drevian Bell scored 10 points and Sean Brinson led the Pioneers with 11 rebounds.

Anne Arundel men’s basketball plays at home this Wednesday at 7 p.m. against Harford Community College. Harford is currently 10-14 overall and 7-7 in conference play.

Anne Arundel Community College’s men’s basketball team is 2-3 in their previous five contests including wins over CCBC Dundalk and Chesapeake College. Their most recent game, which was played on Jan. 30, was a loss at the hands of Baltimore City Community College.

The Pioneers dropped games to CCBC Catonsville (9-11, 6-7 conference) 58-62 and Hagerstown Community College (21-2, 12-1) 82-102 before stringing together the two wins over Dundalk and Chesapeake (12-9, 7-6).

In the 85-70 win over Dundalk (9-13, 3-9) the unselfish play of the Pioneer team led to four players in double digits. Anthony Frazier and Jalen Lester led the team with 16 points each. Jarvez Pierce and James Aorilio each scored 15 points and Pierce neared a triple-double with 11 rebounds and 8 assists. Keenan Chapman and Sean Brinson each added 8 points.

AACC (13-8, 5-7) defeated Chesapeake 97-73 in a game in which the Pioneers jumped ahead early and built a late second half lead after Chesapeake mounted a comeback. With one player scoring over 20 points in the game and three others nearing it, Anne Arundel continued their unselfish ways. Pierce led the team with 23 and pulled down 13 boards. Aorilio added 19 points and 7 rebounds. Lester scored 18 and facilitated 7 buckets. Keenan Chapman scored 15 for AACC. Frazier provided a spark for the Pioneers with 11 rebounds and 7 assists.

In their most recent game, an 85-106 loss to Baltimore City, the Pioneers found themselves down early but managed to fight back to a nine point deficit entering the half. Baltimore City, led by Mike’s Wilson 34 point game, bested AACC in the second half as well for the victory.

Pierce led AACC scorers with 20 points. Jalen Lester scored 18 points and added 8 assists. Aorilio added 12 points while Frazier, Brinson and Chapman each scored 9 points.

The Pioneers have three MD JUCO contests remaining before the conference tourney kicks off at APGFCU Arena at Harford Community College, February 15-17. The first of those games is a home game against Cecil College (10-14, 5-8) this Saturday at 3 p.m.