The De Anza College men's basketball team had a fast start against the Monterey Peninsula College Lobos in the first half, but ultimately fell short, losing 81-70 at home.
Early in the first half, point guard Zach Stevenson picked up two personal fouls and immediately headed to the bench.
Ranbir Sanghera started at shooting guard after regular starter Melvin Sneed sustained an ankle injury against San Jose City College.
The Dons and the Lobos had an intense match-up in the first half as the Lobos went on a 6-0 run against the Dons, taking an early 11-5 lead. The Dons struggled offensively to catch up to Monterey after committing a couple of turnovers in the first half.
Midway through the first half, Damjanovic was given a technical foul for arguing over a referee's call, but it didn't stop the Dons from making a small comeback.
Sneed played for a few minutes, but sat out the entire game after he struggled to make his shots, missing all of his field goal attempts, but making 2-6 free throws.
Late in the first half, the Dons caught up to Monterey by overcoming a seven-point deficit. The Dons went on an 8-0 run, after shooting guard Marshawn Landrine knocked down a two-pointer, ending the first half with a 33-32 lead over the Lobos.
"Our offense and defense wasn't too bad this time, but we did get caught up with a lot of turnovers," Damjanovic said.
Early in the second half, the Lobos began to have foul troubles.
Forward Denarrio Tatmon of Monterey picked up his fourth personal after fouling Kris Gingrich. After arguing with the referee, Tatmon was issued a technical, counting as his fifth, and final, personal foul.
Monterey head coach Blake Spiering got into an argument with the referee, standing up for Tatmon's foul. Spiering and the Lobos bench were also assessed a technical.
"Even when both teams were assessed with technical fouls, I felt that Monterey handled their emotions much better than we did," Damjanovic said. "They still managed to beat us when their best player fouled out."
With the game tied at 40, the Lobos went on a 14-0 run, stunning the Dons after all the technical fouls were handed out.
Guard Jermaine Carter and Tatmon were a handful for the Dons, combining for 40 points. Carter led the team with 24 points and seven assists, and Tatmon added 16 points.
"Monterey drained a lot of shots over us and our defense just collapsed right there," Gingrich said. "We couldn't keep up with them."
Midway through the second half, forward Adam Close was handed a technical foul for celebrating after a blocked shot.
"Even when we're up by a few points, we can't just give up on our offense and defense right away," Gingrich said.
Towards the end of the game, the Lobos picked up their fourth technical foul after they had six players on the court.
Point guard Zach Stevenson led De Anza offensively with 13 points and shot 5-6 from the free-throw line. Close, Sanghera and Gingrich each had 10 points.
"Our guards need to start doing a better job with ball handling against the opposing teams," Gingrich said. "They need to start making improvements with the ball, so we don't commit a lot of turnovers. They're still struggling with it and I didn't think the guards on our team did a good job."
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