COSTA MESA -- A disappointing road loss was corrected by Vanguard men's basketball Thursday night.  Having already lost in Golden State Athletic Conference play to the Menlo College Oaks, VU bounced back in two ways.  First, the Lions were able to snag a 77-74 victory, as Garrett White (SR/Post Falls, ID) knocked down the winning shot with 31 seconds to go.  Secondly, VU did so by eliminating an 11-point gap that the Oaks held at halftime, as the Lions led only twice over the second frame.  Phillip Willis (SR/San Diego, CA) paced the Lions with 24 points and eight rebounds as Vanguard improved to 11-8 overall and 5-6 in GSAC action.  The Oaks drop to 15-7 overall and 6-6 in conference play. 

What Happened? There were a lot of positives for the home side over the first five minutes of action.  Willis opened the scoring with a triple and nailed his next one as well.  Despite Menlo answering with a three and a close-range jumper themselves, the Lions continued to hold the lead, as Isaac Davis (SR/Valencia, CA) and White got on the stat sheet with conversions in close.  White would push the advantage to 17-11 with a power move to the basket at the 14:33 mark, but two threes from the Oaks would knot the game at 17-all.

A downtown swish for Jadyn Johnson (JR/Temecula, CA) put VU up by three, but Menlo would again tie the score at 20-20 with 12:12 to go.  The Blue and Gold would hold onto the lead until the 5:26 mark of the half, as two splashdowns from beyond the arc allowed Menlo to scoot in front 33-31.  The Oaks did not waste their chance to grab some sunlight, as the guests outscored VU 11-2 over the final 4:19 of the period.  Willis had the only make during that span to give himself 12 points in the half, as the Lions went into halftime down 44-33.  Vanguard shot 41.9% from the floor, while MC shot at a 54.5% clip.

Facing quite the climb to get back into the contest, Jackson Larsen (JR/El Cajon, CA) was able to bank in the first shot of the second half.  The Oaks stayed true to their mascot's name though and remained firm over the first five minutes of the period, keeping their lead at around 10 points.  The Lions were able to get the deficit down to single digits over the next four minutes, as Davis made a couple of good shots in close, but a three for Menlo put the Oaks ahead 61-50 with 11:32 to go. 

But after that, the VU ax started to swing faster than MC could respond.  Mitchell Prevost (JR/Tuolumne, CA) snuck in for a layup to start the run, as Davis made a three with 10:04 to go to make it 61-55.  He added another triple with 9:23 to go and Prevost put down a layup to make the score 61-60 at the 8:24 mark.  A White free throw tied the game at 61-all to cap the 11-point streak, but the Oaks did not throw in the towel.  MC remained ahead over the next five minutes of play with some good shot selection.  However, five straight points from Willis around the four-minute mark handed VU its first lead in almost 20 minutes of game time.

The crowd at the OCC gym was loving it, but yet another three for Menlo put the Oaks ahead once more.  White got fouled with 1:51 to go and he made both free throws to tie the game at 72-all.  Menlo called a timeout and ran through the correct progressions to create an open look, with Corey Le'aupepe making a layup to put MC ahead 74-72 with 52 seconds left.

A VU timeout was used with 46 seconds remaining to settle the troops and diagram the right play.  A few passes got Davis the ball on the left wing and White took a nice down screen to run to the top of the key.  The behind-the-back pass from Davis was on target and White buried a three from straight away to put VU ahead 75-74.  The Oaks had 31 seconds to work with but could not get the shot to drop on their possession.  Willis then got fouled and made two three throws to ice the win, as VU celebrated a big 77-74 comeback win.

The Lions shot 53.8% from the field in the second half to earn a 47.4% tally for the game.  Menlo was held to 35.5% in the second half, giving the guests a 45.3% mark from the field for the game.  Both teams made 11 threes in the contest, though the Oaks had 31 attempts from beyond the arc, with VU trying 26.  MC had a 37-30 edge in rebounds, including a 12-6 lead in offensive boards. 

Willis was 7-for-10 from the field, including going 4-of-7 from downtown.  He also led the team with three assists.   Davis had 12 points and two assists, while White had 14 points. 

Why is it Important?  Westmont was idle on the night, putting Vanguard in a tie with the Warriors for seventh in the GSAC.  Menlo is a game ahead of both squads at 6-6. VU is now 12-6 all-time against the Oaks and 2-1 in the past three games. 

What was Said?  "I'm really proud of our guy's resilience and grit to come out with a win," said Head Coach Rhett Soliday.  "Menlo is as physically tough, talented, and well-coached as anyone in the league.  They have great length across the board at all positions and that showed up in the way they hurt us on the offensive glass.  That meant our guards had to have a big night on the glass."

"Phil, Mitchell, and Isaac combined for 19 rebounds and that was a big factor.  Phil played a complete game with 24 points, eight rebounds, and four huge steals.  Isaac was himself just attacking and setting the tone for us with our pace.  White showed how hard pays off.  He hadn't hit a three on the night and he steps up to make the winning shot just like he's done a million times in the gym.  He's a big-game player and that was a big shot.  I'm proud of the whole team for never quitting, but now it is on to Jessup."

Why is it Important?  Vanguard's next opponent is two games ahead in the standings, as the newly branded Jessup Warriors will come to the OCC gym on Saturday for a 2 pm. tipoff.