ATHERTON, Calif. -- Vanguard men's basketball played the Oaks of Menlo College Thursday night in a pivotal Golden State Athletic Conference matchup.  Earlier in the season, the Lions had trailed going into halftime at home against the Oaks but the squad almost doubled up MC in the second half to win 78-73.  VU was in a similar situation on Thursday, as the team trailed by seven at the break. Unfortunately, the Blue and Gold were unable to repeat their accomplishment on the road, as Menlo would win 84-74.  A huge part of the Menlo win was the play of Landon Seaman, who had eight points in the first meeting, but exploded for 35 on his home court.  The Lions fall to 13-10 overall and 3-7 in the GSAC, while Menlo improves to 17-6 overall and 5-5 in the conference.
 
What Happened? The Blue and Gold were soon trailing 5-0 to open the contest, as the Lions would not find a basket for over three minutes of action.  Down 7-0, Preston Sims began one of his best nights of the season offensively by making a layup to put the Lions on the board.  However, the Oaks continued to stymie the Lions, as Menlo's defense helped the home side to a 14-2 lead at the 14:58 mark of the first half.  Layups for Pape Cisse and Jackson Larsen would give VU a little life, but the deficit would soon reach 18-6 with 11:03 left in the half.

Vanguard put up a nice stretch over the next two minutes, as Sims put down a three and a slam by Larsen brought the gap down to 23-15 with 8:33 to go.  However, the Oaks would run the lead back out to 10 before both teams stalled until the final six minutes of the frame.  Sims restarted the scoring by nailing his second triple of the evening, with both Bryson Metz and Robert Aguirre Jr. sinking their attempts from beyond the arc to bring VU to within five points at 29-24 with 3:48 to go.  The teams exchanged almost evenly the rest of the period, leaving the Oaks ahead 38-29 at halftime.
 
VU shot 35.5% from the field in the first half but connected at a 41.7% clip from downtown.  Menlo made 45.5% of their shots from the floor in the period.
 
Larsen had the first three points of the half for VU and a layup for Anthony Tello cut the gap to 44-37.  But try as they might, the Blue and Gold could not get the lead to drop below seven points.  The Oaks had an offensive punch for every short successful spell by the Lions and Menlo almost put it away with a 10-4 run that started at the 8:58 mark of the second.  Menlo set the lead at 66-50 with 6:09 to go and then grew that edge to18 points on a three a minute later.  But the Lions did not quit, with the Blue and Gold deploying a 9-2 stretch to sneak back into contention.  But down 72-61, time was not on Vanguard's side.
 
It was not until a layup by Tello that the Lions got to within six points at 80-74, but that came with only 35 ticks on the board.  VU made a quick foul and unfortunately, the Oaks made both shots from the free-throw line.  With another pair of conversions from the charity stripe shortly after, Menlo would prevail 84-74.
 
Vanguard shot 55.6% in the second half to finish at a 46.3% rate for the game.  VU went 8-for-23 from downtown and went 4-of-8 from the free throw line in the game.  Menlo did not shoot as well, 43.5% from the field in the game and 20% from beyond the arc, but the free-throw battle proved decisive.  The Oaks were 26-for-32 from the charity stripe, good for an 81.3% conversion metric.  VU ended the game in a 17-26 foul deficit for the game.  The Oaks also won the rebound contest 46-33, including a 14-7 edge in offensive boards.
 
The Lions did have four players in double figures, as Sims paced the Lions with 17 points on 7-10 shooting, including a team-high three splashdowns from downtown.  Larsen had 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds.  Metz netted 11 points and two assists to tie Philip Willis for the VU lead.  Tello had 10 points.
 
What was Said?  "Credit to Menlo for playing great to protect home court," said Head Coach Rhett Soliday.  "Their main guys played well, and they hit big shots when they needed to.  We continue to struggle with protecting the pain and winning the battle on the glass.  There are no more lessons to be learned in this area if we want to have a chance to continue our season in March."
 
What's Next?  The Blue and Gold will play Jessup on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.