The Fresno City College men’s basketball team ended their season undefeated 32-0 against West Hills College last Wednesday.
Coming into the game with a perfect record of 31 straight consecutive wins; the Rams knew the stakes were higher than ever. It was a night of heavy emotions, Coach Madec along with the entire FCC student body and faculty prepared to say goodbye to eight sophomore players: Sultan Toles-Bey, Aaron Hill, Travis Ferrell, George DeLeon, Russell Gregory, Donnell Flemming, Brent Grice and Brian Johnson. A tribute video was played minutes before the game in honor of all of the hard work, dedication and accomplishments this season. A very proud and cheerful crowd rose to their feet and applauded each player individually as they were being introduced concluding the video.
During the jump ball West Hills College quickly took advantage of the opportunity and gained possession of the ball. West Hills point guard Josh Lopez seemed to have total control of the ball until FCC #4 Edward Willis came from out of nowhere and rebounded a missed shot by Lopez, players from both teams quickly regrouped as Willis drove the ball back down the court. Maneuvering through West Hills looking for an open outlet; seeing there was no one able to receive the pass, Willis took the chance to shoot and successfully scored the first 2 point shot of the game.
West Hills followed behind very closely only trailing the Rams about 3 to 5 points throughout most of the first half of the game. Coach Madec stood on the sidelines with a satisfied expression on his face. very anxious and showed mixed emotions throughout the game. Surely very eager to defeat the Rams, West Hills remained fully focused and gave the Rams a quality match up.
Midway through the first half it was evident that both teams were delivering, soon after the Rams would score West Hills seemed to capitalize each and every time. With about 10 minutes left in the first half FCC guard #15 George DeLeon swept past West Hills and turned over a missed shot by West Hills #52 Brett Arce and scored a perfectly executed three point shot.
By the end of the first half FCC had taken the lead 38/33, during halftime Xai Chang an FCC athletics department representative and student had said “I think there playing really hard and I’m proud to be a part of this historic time here at FCC .” Chang went on to say “the Rams along with coach Madec never fail to rise to the occasion under times of pressure like these.”
The second half quickly passed by as the Rams continued to bring the heat to West Hills. Lead scorers for FCC were #15 George DeLeon who had 17 points, #4 Edward Willis who had 18 points, #2 Sultan Toles-Bey who had 17 points, and #3 Aaron Hill who had 13 points. Nearing the last few minutes of the game FCC fans rose to their feet and started chanting “Fresno, Fresno, State Champs here we come”.
The final score of the game was 88/74 the Ram’s had done it, they remained undefeated the entire season. As the buzzer went off the entire crowd including supporters of West Hills stood up from their seats and started clapping for both teams. FCC Director of Athletics Susan Yates said “I’m very proud of the accomplishment; this team went undefeated in a very competitive game. I’m very proud of their hard work. Minutes after the game Coach Madec expressed his feelings about the season and his team. “It was a good way to win the conference title it was all for the sophomores, now it’s time to get ready for the post season and elevate one more level. George DeLeon who was standing near Madec said “It’s our first season going undefeated and we pulled it off, this was for coach.” Congratulations are in order for the men so come out and support your Rams at the 2009 Men’s Basketball Playoffs. The Men play the winner of the West Valley and Skyline game on February 28 at 7 pm.
