Columbia College basketball rallies from behind to win at West Hills

DeAndre Stallings scored a season-high 31 points and anchored a furious second-half comeback that lifted the Columbia College Claim Jumpers over West Hills 85-82 on Wednesday night.

Columbia (14-7, 4-2 Central Valley Conference) rallied from a 49-32 halftime deficit and still trailed by 15 before launching its run in the final eight minutes.

Stallings’ three-pointer put the Claim Jumpers ahead to stay with 40 seconds left and added two clutch free throws with three seconds to go to increase the lead to three. West Hills (11-9, 4-2) missed a shot from half-court as time expired.

Columbia, tied with West Hills for second place in the CVC, sustained its rally by hitting 14 three-pointers and 23 of 24 free throws. Stallings, a 6-foot-7 freshman from Liberty Ranch High School in Galt, was responsible for seven three-pointers and netted all five free throws he attempted.

Mike Meserole also starred with 17 points, followed by Bosten Van Der Veur with 11 points and Lewayne Grant with 10.

Columbia welcomes Reedley to Oak Pavilion on Saturday at 6 p.m.

Baseball/Softball

MJC home opener Friday –The Modesto Junior College Pirates’ home opener is Friday against Los Medanos at 1 p.m., as sophomore Tyler Arnsberg gets the start. The game originally was scheduled for Saturday. Monterey Peninsula comes to MJC on Tuesday at 2 p.m.

The Pirates’ softball team, in another late schedule change, will open with a doubleheader against Sequoias on Saturday at 10 a.m.

Golf

Pirates open season with win – Robert Erler and Justin Schroyer posted 1-over-par 73s to lead MJC over Delta 381-419 at Stockton Country Club. The Pirates also featured Nick Sharp and Timmy Yang with 78s and Justin Morrish with a 79.

This story was originally published January 27, 2016 at 9:17 PM with the headline "Columbia College basketball rallies from behind to win at West Hills."