Mt. SAC Men’s Basketball took another tough conference loss to the visiting Pasadena City College Lancers by a score of 75-59 on Friday, Feb. 9.

The Lancers currently sit in last place within the South Coast Conference North standings, but were coming off a 67-57 win against Los Angeles Trade Tech and looked to achieve the improbable by knocking off the second place Mounties fresh off their 72-60 defeat at the hands of first place East Los Angeles College.

The Mounties looked to bounce back from the defensive beat down suffered at East L.A., but only held Pasadena City to 31 points and took a two-point lead at halftime.

Sophomore guard Corey Grant scored 16 points, recording seven assists, two rebounds and three steals, while sophomore guard Darrell Williams recorded 12 points off the bench.

The duo of forwards Aaron Dutcher and Minfeke Sanoe combined for 16 points and an outstanding 23 rebounds, but it was not enough to hold off the Lancers who outscored the Mounties 44-26 in the second half.

Pasadena City College held Mt. SAC to 18 of 62 shooting from the field and outscored the Mounties’ bench 34-12.

“It’s going to make us come together more but it’s just a loss you just don’t want to take,” Sanoe said after the game. “It hurts but we know we just have to regroup and finish this strong.”

Despite the loss, the Mounties are holding on to second place in the South Coast Conference North, boasting a 5-3 conference record and 12-13 overall, though they are tied for the spot with Chaffey.

“We have to come to a realization that this game is in the books,” Sanoe said. “This one is over and we just have to be mentally strong to dominate the next few.”

With only two games to go in the regular season schedule, Mt. SAC must now set their eyes on the visiting fourth place Rio Hondo College Roadrunners on Wednesday, Feb. 14, in a final home game that will tipoff at 7 p.m.