OAKLAND — Aside from a shaky first quarter that could be chalked up to early-season jitters, the Oakland Tech boys basketball team was flying high on Tuesday night.
With their patented brand of high-pressure basketball, the Bulldogs outscored visiting Sequoia 28-7 in the second quarter and went on to an 84-55 win in the season opener for both teams.
Trailing 21-13 after the opening eight minutes, Oakland Tech (1-0) opened the second quarter on a 13-0 run and didn’t allow the visiting Ravens to score from the field until the final minute of the period. The hosts answered a pair of Rahman Malik free throws with another 13 consecutive points, capped off by and-1s on back-to-back possessions by Benny Mansell.
“We gave up 21 points in the first quarter, which was unacceptable,” Mansell said. “We needed to up the intensity of our press to get the ball in our hands.”
As well as the Bulldogs played as a unit in the second quarter, Mansell shone over the eight minutes. He scored 10 of his 14 points, collected five of his seven rebounds and dished out two of his three assists throughout the quarter.
“He’s one of our seniors and one of our glue guys,” Oakland Tech head coach Karega Hart said.
Sequoia (0-1) trailed by just 11 halfway through the third after a Declan Gibbons block and Sean McCormack layup, but the Bulldogs scored the next seven points, capped off by a Alvon Watts putback and Mahlik Smith transition layup off a steal, to force Fine Lauese to call a timeout.
“We knew it was coming,” Lauese said of Oakland Tech’s pressure. “This is the best practice for us. We probably got more out of this than they did.”
Early on, it looked like the Ravens had the upper hand in what’s become a nearly annual early-season matchup, with Trevor Sato sinking a trio of open 3-pointers as part of his 11-point first quarter. Sato scored a team-high 15, and McCormack dished out four of his team-high five assists in the opening period, including one to Malik for the final basket of the quarter to give the visitors their largest lead.
Oakland Tech took control in the second quarter, built the lead to as much as 18 in the third on an Owen Staples Jr. layup and pulled away in the fourth.
“I think we got over the first-game jitters after the first quarter and really settled down and played a little bit of basketball,” Hart said.
Donovan Malone scored eight of his 12 points in the fourth quarter to put the game away. His 3-pointer and putback built the lead to 66-44 to force another Sequoia timeout, Micah Allen threw down his first dunk of the year a minute later and Malone finished his night off with a rainbow of a 3-pointer to make it 79-52 with two minutes left.
Malone was one of five double-digit scorers for the Bulldogs. Aside from him and Mansell, Staples Jr., who was playing football as recently as Friday, scored a game-high 17 while Smith and Ahmaree Muhammad each finished with 10. Muhammad also had five assists and four rebounds. Jaymason Howard, who ran for 1,180 yards on Sequoia’s football team, finished with seven points to match Malik.
Oakland Tech has a gauntlet of a nonleague schedule, with a Saturday date with Vanden at the NorCal Tip-Off Classic at Dublin. The Bulldogs and Vikings are set to get underway at 5:15 p.m. on Nov. 27 in the sixth of eight games on the day. Sequoia will open its home schedule on Monday against Silver Creek.
