AAA Mortgage used an offensive spurt in the second half of their most recent San Diego Hoops basketball game to upset Pomegranate 67-52, during the seventh week of the season on Jan. 4. Pomegranate’s only previous loss was to undefeated Morgan Stanley on Dec. 14.

Both teams moved the ball well and put themselves in good positions to score, but the difference was AAA’s Larry Granville, who scored 21 points in the first half to help his team build a 32-26 lead at halftime.

The second half saw much of the same. Pomegranate, missing their highest scorer, Jason Farr, played with two new team members. The game stayed fairly close throughout, but AAA broke away at the end and pulled ahead for the win.

AAA’s Granville led all scorers with 38 points. Pomegranate’s Leo Valenzuela led his team with 13 points.

Pomegranate dropped to 5-2 overall and AAA improved to 5-2, tied for second place in the league.

In the first game of the night, The Loft built on a slim lead after the first half to pull away from Colorworks Painting in a 51-46 victory. Colorworks seemed rusty from the beginning, missing some passes and making some handling errors. Only 19 points were scored within the first 10 minutes of the game, which was a combination of strong defense and an ineffectual offense.

The pace picked up toward the end of first half, with both teams driving hard but failing to score in the last seconds before the halftime buzzer. The Loft held a slim 27-25 lead at halftime.

The second half showed better offense and defense from both teams. Passing became more fluid and handling errors decreased overall. Colorworks was missing Tom Nagashima, one of their key players, which The Loft quickly took advantage of, maintaining a 3 to 7-point lead throughout the majority of the game. Colorworks only led twice during the game.

A 3-pointer jump shot by Colorworks with 30 seconds left in the game brought them within 2 points – but it wasn’t enough, as Colorworks lost focus and gave up three free throws to The Loft.

The Loft’s Brett Drake led his team with 18 points. Colorworks’ Brandon Patchett matched him with 18 points.

Colorworks dropped to 3-4 overall, while The Loft improved to 3-4.

Morgan Stanley held on for a 55-41 win over winless Pecs in the second game of the night. In a much better game than anyone expected, Pecs held their ground in the first half, keeping things close throughout.

Because the league’s referee was absent, Morgan Stanley’s scoring leader Paul Demke refereed all four games of the evening and Morgan Stanley had to score without him. It was rough going for Morgan Stanley, who barely hung on to a 30-28 lead at halftime.

An upset and first win of the season was on Pecs’ mind, but Morgan Stanley would have none of that and picked up their play in the second half to pull away with the win. Pecs did, however, keep Morgan Stanley from completely running away with the game.

Morgan Stanley’s Danny Player led his team with 28 points and Dan Newbold led Pecs with 21 points.

Morgan Stanley remained undefeated at 7-0, while Pecs fell to 0-7.

In the third game of the night, Hamburger Mary’s got past a feisty 2200 Club, 56-49. Despite only winning one game this season, the 2200 Club team has showed great improvement since the beginning of the season and managed to keep pace with Hamburger Mary’s throughout the contest.

Hamburger Mary’s initially had trouble finding their groove and trailed 25-21 at halftime. The second half was much more exciting, with both teams running up and down the court with fast breaks and hard drives. Hamburger Mary’s began to let their frustration show, but referee Demke kept them in check.

Hamburger Mary’s Mike Anderson led scoring with 23 points and Brian Jinings added 19. 2200 Club’s Sergio Villegas and Jeff Praught both scored 14 points.

2200 Club fell to 1-6 overall, while Hamburger Mary’s improved their record to over the .500 mark at 4-3.