NEWPORT NEWS — VPCC men’s basketball’s lone game last week was a 96-88 loss to Sandhills Community College on Feb. 8 at SafeHaven Empowerment Center.
The Gators (12-7 overall, 3-3 in Region 10) were looking for a season sweep of the Flyers, having won 102-96 at Sandhills in January. The Flyers are ranked seventh in the country in NJCAA Division III.
In the rematch, the Gators controlled the first half, taking a 44-22 lead with a little more than seven minutes to go. However, the Gators led just 54-42 at the break as Flyers closed the half on a 30-10 run. The Gators were ahead 69-61 with 12 minutes left in the game before the Flyers made another run. They took an 81-80 lead with 4:28 remaining and stayed in front the rest of the way. The Gators cut it to 90-88 with about a minute left but couldn’t get any closer.
Sincere Moore (Matoaca High School/Chesterfield) led five VPCC players in double figures with 20 points. D’Cameron Haynes (Munford HS/Memphis, Tenn.) and Keshaun Johnson (Nansemond River/Suffolk) added 14 each, Jakobe Reed (Woodside/Hampton) had 11 and Jayden Sepulveda (Landstown/Virginia Beach) 10.
The Gators’ game scheduled for Feb. 3 at Chowan University was canceled. They finish the regular season with a pair of home games (Feb. 12 against Camp and Feb. 15 against Patrick & Henry Community College) Both games are at SafeHaven, with the Feb. 12 game starting at 7 p.m. On Feb. 15, the game starts at 3 p.m. with a pre-game ceremony honoring our sophomore players and cheerleaders.
