The Voice - Student Newspaper - February 13, 2008

Gauchos punish Bears inside, scramble for playoffs

For a team that has been average at best on the boards, the Gauchos men's basketball team was huge in Saturday's crucial game against Phoenix College.

Eric Hipolito (19 points, 7 rebounds), James Green ( 12 points, 7 rebounds) and Lance Fite (10 points, 8 rebounds) lead the Gauchos' effort underneath on their way to an 88-82 victory at home against the Bears, moving Glendale into a three-way conference record tie for the final Division II playoff spot. The Gauchos are tied with Phoenix and Chandler-Gilbert, with six games remaining for all three teams.

Glendale made it clear from tip-off that they intended to pound the ball inside against the smaller Bears, who are one of the worst rebounding teams in the ACCAC. Time and again Hipolito, Green and Fite muscled their way to point-blank shots, forcing the Bears to collapse and foul throughout the game.

Glendale outrebounded Phoenix 45-27.

Once that happened, the Gauchos' perimeter game opened up. Glendale, second in the conference in 3-point percentage, bombed away in the second half. Point guard T.J. Campbell accounted for three three-pointers himself.

Glendale would need every point however, as Phoenix was continually left wide open on the perimeter in the first half en route to an early 13-7 lead. The Gauchos responded, crashing the offensive glass, and ran off seven straight points to take the lead. The Bears would tie the game in the second half, but was unable to retake the lead.

Still, it was a continuation of a troubling trend for the Gauchos this season, as they repeatedly start the game lacking the sense of urgency they play with in the second half.

"We came out in spurts," Hipolito said. "We have to do a better job of coming out and getting on it right away." After leading 36-35 at halftime, Glendale came out strong in the second half, making runs of 9-1 and 8-0 to lead 55-44 before the Bears called a timeout and made a 13-5 run of their own.

The Gauchos kept Phoenix at bay, as Campbell continually fed the three big men down low. Glendale broke the game open with a 9-0 run after Phoenix tied it 72-72 with 3:31 remaining. Campbell and Hipolito scored five and four points respectively in that run.

The roles of those two have been consistent throughout the season.

"Coach wants me to be the one to pick everyone up," said Hipolito after the game. "TJ makes everybody on the floor better and raises everyone's level of play. It's great to have a point guard like that."

Campbell finished the game with a team-high 20 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds.

All the Gauchos will have to raise their level of play in this final stretch of the regular season. Out of the three teams vying for that final playoff spot, Glendale has the toughest remaining schedule, including games against the top four Division I schools (AZ Western, Eastern AZ, Mesa and Cochise). Their final game of the season is against Chandler-Gilbert, which could decide the final playoff berth depending on what transpires over the next two weeks.

Saturday's win against Phoenix could be a sign of what Glendale will need to in order to sneak into the postseason picture.

"This was a big win for us," said Green. "We gotta continue to play together, keep it going and keep being humble and we'll be (good)."