Sykes makes himself at home in win over Blue Devils

The army of well-wishers was at least 30 deep when John Sykes emerged from the visiting locker room.

It was the culmination of a very warm welcome home for the former Golden Valley star.

While the crowd was pro-Sykes -- as indicated by the raucous applause every time he made a play -- the Merced College gym was far less welcoming.

Sykes struggled from the free-throw line, going 3 for 12, but managed to sink the one that mattered the most. Sykes gave Columbia a three-point lead with 13 seconds to play.

Merced College guard John Lowe got a decent look at a tying 3-pointer, but it caught the backside of the iron. Columbia held on from there for a 63-59 victory.

"It's always a great feeling to come home and play in front of friends and family," said Sykes, who finished with 15 points and seven rebounds. "I probably kept the game a little closer than it should have been, but almost all of our games have been close. We're used to playing in tight games and it helped us out tonight."

It was a tough finish for the Blue Devils who twice erased double-digit leads in the second half.

Trailing 38-29 at intermission, an energized MC team quickly tied the game at 39-39 just a few minutes into the second half. Columbia (1-2 CVC, 8-10) answered right back with a 13-0 run.

"We love to play from behind," Lowe said. "If we can ever start the game with the kind of intensity we have at the end of the game, we'd be in good shape."

The Blue Devils still trailed by nine with 5 minutes to play, but had one final run in them.

A couple steals and layups from Bryan Moore and JerMichael Williams cut the lead to 57-53 with 2:40 to play.

Logan Wiens (team-high 13 points) cut the lead to two with a jumper at the 1-minute, 27-second mark.

Columbia's Evan Scott (game-high 20 points) answered with a pair of free throws and after Bobby Monges stole MC's ensuing inbounds pass, Scott got an uncontested layup to put the Lumberjacks up 61-55 with 40 seconds to go.

MC had one final surge. Williams got an offensive putback and Alonzo Sharpe followed with a layup, making it 61-59 with 23 seconds to go.

The Blue Devils forced a jump ball on Columbia's ensuing possession and got a chance to tie the game with the alternate possession arrow in their favor. Lowe attempted a drive to the basket, but had his layup bounce off the side of the rim.

Sykes pulled in the rebound and hit one of two free throws to make it a three-point game with 13 seconds to play.

Lowe caught a screen from Wiens at the top of the arc and let fly a running 3-point attempt that was just a little strong.

"I rushed it," Lowe admitted. "I was just thinking in my head that we needed to get a shot off quickly so we'd at least have a shot at a rebound. I had a bigger defender on me, and so I forced it a little bit.

"It was probably the wrong decision."