The Men have lost two straight games – at home. From a purely statistical point of view, this looks pretty bad. The numbers suggest that this team is terrible.

Nevertheless, numbers and statistics do not tell the whole story. This team is better than the losses, standings, and scores suggest. They fought hard in both games. They look better on the court than they do on paper.

With two back-to-back losses, at home, the Corsairs are in last place in the Western State South Division Conference at 1-6. Los Angeles Valley is in second place behind Citrus with a record of 5-2. West Los Angeles is in fourth place behind Bakersfield with a 3-4 record.

From a purely statistical point of view, this looks pretty bad. The numbers suggest that this team is terrible: a 26 point deficit in two games. Yikes!

Nevertheless, numbers and statistics do not tell the whole story. This team is better than the losses, standings, and scores suggest. They fought hard in both games. They look better on the court than they do on paper.

In the first game, the West L A Wildcats led for the first four minutes of the game until Rodney Hudson hit a long three-pointer to give the Corsairs a two-point lead. Within seconds, however, the Wildcats regained the lead, and this time, it was a commanding lead. The Wildcats led by as many as 16 points until there was just over five minutes left on the clock. Then the momentum shifted in SMC's favor and the half ended with SMC down by a score of 36-34.

The Corsairs looked better in the second period. The West L A Wildcats led by as little as one point and as many as six in the first nine minutes of the second period. Then the Corsairs simply shut down the Wildcats offense and started sinking baskets like crazy. The Corsairs took the lead and stayed on top with as many as five points until there was only four minutes left on the clock.

It was fast-paced and exhilarating to watch.

Then West L A, a taller, stronger team, took the game over. Their offense got hot. The Wildcats scored fourteen uninterrupted points; no Corsair response.

The score at this point, with only 1:17 left on the clock, was 83-69. The Corsairs managed to score two more baskets, but it was simply not enough. The final score was West L A 85, Corsairs 73.

The game between the Corsairs and the L A Valley Monarchs was completely different. Although the Corsairs would lead by only six points, they dominated throughout most of the first period. It was not until there was four minutes left in the period that the Monarchs would take the lead; a lead that they would not relinquish for the rest of the night. At the half, the Monarchs were winning by six points with a score of 42-36.

It was a close game throughout most of the second period. The Monarch's would lead by as many as nine points. Then their lead would drop to five points; back to seven; drop to three, then back to five points. It was not until there was about six minutes left in the game that the Monarchs would lead by double digets – 11 points.

With only four minutes left in the game the Corsairs managed to stage a come-back and close the deficit to as little as five points.

However, in the last one minute and thirty seconds of the game, the Monarchs scored fourteen straight points. They simply overpowered the Corsairs and took the game home.

The final score was Monarchs 82, Corsairs 68.

SMC employee and devoted follower of the Corsairs, Craig Walter, was disappointed with the loss and felt that the loss was due to turnovers and lack of defense. "I think the coach has a lot to do with developing a defensive strategy. I don't know what it is he is doing to motivate his big men to play defense because they miss the second chance points,” he said.

Walter, speaking of Coach Jenkins, said "I think he needs to work on the guys to be more consistent – they beat Citrus. If you want to go to the next level, you have to have more than just 'fight' in you. I've see championship caliber ball. I've seen what coaches do when the game is close. Sometimes I wonder - what is his strategy.”

L A Valley Monarch's coach, Virgil Watson, was pleased with the win. "It was a good win for us. We are trying to battle for a championship. Beating these guys was a good win because they are really tough. They play extremely hard so we are really happy to get away with a win in this game,” he said. He felt that the difference in the game was when his team's defense began to shut down the Corsair offense and when "we stopped trading baskets.”

Coach Watson respects the Corsairs. He said that the team was very athletic and that they shot the ball very well. The coach believes that when a school brings in a new coach the new program takes time. "They [the Corsairs] have a new coach implementing a new style with new players. Sometimes it takes a while. They are so much better right now than they were in November and December. Sometimes they seem to be one possession away from winning the game," he said.

These losses eliminate the Corsairs from contention for a conference championship.

The only thing left to play for ... is pride.