In Super Bowl LI, the Atlanta Falcons blew a 28-3 lead in one of the biggest chokes in sports history. Three days later, on Feb. 8, the Dons (12-10 overall, 6-4 Peninsula Athletic League) nearly suffered the same fate against cross-town rivals San Mateo (13-9 overall, 4-6 PAL), who chipped away the at Aragon´s 21-point lead early in the fourth quarter. However, the defense was able to hold on and squeak past the Bearcats by a two point margin, winning 55-53.
“It’s our fifth win in a row after we started 1-4 and were in last place,” says senior forward Henry Kazan who scored eight points and grabbed seven rebounds. ¨To go on a run like this and come back, so it’s good for us and it puts us in a position to make the [PAL] Playoffs. Especially since we lost a close one to them a month ago, so it feels good to get them back.¨
The Dons started off strong, exploding for a 9-4 run in the first two minutes and scoring 35 first half points, compared to the 19 the Bearcats scored. This lead expanded to a 21-point margin in the third quarter, forcing San Mateo to call multiple timeouts.
“They were playing with confidence,” says head coach Hosea Patton. “They were playing together and the way they have been taught.”
However, the second half became a sharp contrast to the first, as Aragon play was characterized by turnovers and missed opportunities, such as a missed layup from junior center Gabriel Lukaszewicz.
“Complete brain farts,” says Patton. “They went away from what they were doing. You’ve got to give San Mateo some credit for adjusting and they were a little bit more hungry. Our guys got a bit complacent when they were told not to and that allowed San Mateo to get back into the game.”
San Mateo cut the Dons’ lead to four points with four minutes left in the game. However, the Dons were able to hold on thanks to stellar defense by Lukaszewicz, and a last second shot by senior guard Carlos Pagaduan that kept the Dons’ lead at four with 15 seconds left.
“We just stood together, huddled up and we were like,’ You know, we can’t let them do this anymore, we can’t blow this lead again, we can’t embarrass ourselves again and we’ve got to pull together and pull through this game and we fought with whatever we had left in the tank and put in our best players,’ ” says Lukaszewicz. “[The win] was really about our heart and ability to pull ourselves together and stay together, even when things don’t go our way.”
In the end, San Mateo got a basket with one second left as a consolation, although it did not affect the outcome, as the Dons pulled out the win. Up next, the Dons and their five-game win streak travel to take on Hillsdale (11-11 overall, 3-7 PAL) on Feb. 10.
