Friday: CCSF 93, Yuba 83

Appeal-Democrat: "On a hostile court, in the gymnasium of the state's top-ranked team, amid a sea of whistles — in the face of perhaps the most adversity a team could encounter in its opening game — the Yuba College men's basketball team found itself down by a single point with less than two minutes remaining.

The 49ers never took the lead — not on Friday — as host City College of San Francisco made its free throws — and Yuba most emphatically did not — but coach Doug Cornelius found a lot to like in the 93-83 loss at the CCSF Tip-Off Tournament.

"They played so hard," he said. "We showed a lot of heart, so much guts and battle by our guys, for sure. It's too bad we had to dig ourselves out of such a hole."

Against a front line that went 6-foot-9, 6-9 and 6-8, Jihad Woods had a monster game, finishing with 26 points and 14 rebounds.

Marysville High alum Erik Scheive battled through foul trouble to record 11 points and nine rebounds, and Donald Jackson came off the bench to lead the 49ers with six assists.

"Jihad was a man out there," Cornelius said. "That was one of the best games he's played since he's been at Yuba."

How bad was it for Yuba? Starting point guard Jaaron Stallworth played two minutes of the first half — then sat the rest with two fouls. Scheive played five — then sat the rest with two fouls. Three players fouled out. Four finished with four fouls.

San Francisco shot 51 free throws.

Stallworth, in fact, fouled out in eight minutes. But in those six second-half minutes, he scored 12 points, tantalizing with what he might be able to accomplish this season.

"Our bench guys stepped up and did some things," Cornelius said. "We got some big-time experience in a big-time environment against a big-time team."
There were other things Cornelius was concerned about: 20 turnovers. An unsightly 15-32 from the free-throw line...