Morgan Stanley remained undefeated with a 54-26 thrashing of Pecs in San Diego Hoops action on Dec. 20.

The first half was peppered with unsuccessful drives, bad passes, flubbed free throws and missed opportunities. Both teams were playing strong defense and forcing each other to work for each basket, but Morgan Stanley had the upper hand throughout the half with their speed and an additional man.

After a few missed shots by both teams, Pecs’ Michael Rocklin made the first basket of the game. Immediately following the basket, he was fouled and made one of the two free throws to put Pecs into an early 3-point lead.

That brief early lead would be Pecs’ last, as Morgan Stanley dominated play for the remainder of the game. They drove on the basket and took two shots, but couldn’t sink either. After several unsuccessful attempts to score, on their sixth drive of the game, Morgan Stanley’s Eddie Quintero made his shot and finally put them on the board. Brandon Patchett made the next 2 points on three different sets of free throws to bring Morgan Stanley into the lead 4-3.

During a 10-0 run, Morgan Stanley’s Paul Demke scored the next two baskets, netting 4 more points. Then, Patchett scored on a fast break and last-minute pass from Demke to bring their lead to 10-3.

Pecs finally managed to answer back with a 2-pointer scored by A.J. Matthews. Free throws on both sides by Demke and Matthews netted 1 more point each, while Demke hit another basket for a 13-6 lead.

Both teams were playing a good defensive game, but Morgan Stanley was the faster team, capitalizing on their speed and controlling the rebounds. Neither team was able to hit the mark in the next four drives until Patchett hit a 3-point shot and then immediately followed with a 2-pointer off a stolen ball to bring Morgan Stanley ahead by 12 points at 18-6.

Stepping up his game, Matthews scored 4 back-to-back points as a result of two free throws and a bucket off the rebound. Pecs’ Mona Valenzuela and Patchett each scored 2 points to round out the half with Morgan Stanley in the lead 23-12.

Coming back in the second half, Pecs had the ball and made short work of a 2-point score by Matthews. Morgan Stanley answered with a 3-point shot from David Mata. Demke then sank another basket.

Determined to build an even larger lead, Morgan Stanley then scored another 8 points via Patchett and Demke. Pecs continued to take shots, but were consistently missing, both in regular play and in free throws.

Morgan Stanley was in control of most of the rebounds and was able to take advantage of their speed, managing to outrun Pecs and score on the fast break or when passing around Pecs’ defense. Quintero scored another basket off the rebound for 2 more points, followed by back-to-back scores by Pecs. Rocklin threw in two free throws and Matthews scored another basket.

Morgan Stanley fired back with 4 more points, this time with a basket from Rich Stevenson and another one by Demke.

Pecs replied with 5 more points as Brett Drake scored a basket and a free throw and Rod George scored a 2-point shot. With just over four minutes left in the game, Morgan Stanley made a bad pass that was recovered by Pecs, but they were unable to capitalize on the mistake and missed the shot. Morgan Stanley scored four more times before the final whistle blew.

Morgan Stanley remains at the top of the S.D. Hoops standings with an unbeaten 5-0 record, while Pecs fell to 2-3.

In another game played on Dec. 20, Beach City Market defeated a winless 2200 Club team 44-32.

Craig Ahlston scored the first basket with an easy 2-point shot for Beach City Market. The next five minutes of the game were totally devoid of scores by either side, as both teams failed to sink their baskets at the end of each drive, making six unsuccessful drives to score.

It wasn’t until Beach City Market’s Brandon Culley scored 6 back-to-back points that their offense got going. There would be only 11 minutes left in the first half by the time 2200 Club was on the board, thanks to a 2-point bucket by Curt Janka. Frank Nunez followed with another shot.

Beach City Market fired back with 4 more points – one from Randy Miller and two free throws by Sereeta Jones. 2200 Club rallied in their next few drives, sinking 6 more points, while only allowing Beach City Market to score 5 points. Beach City Market led 19-10 at halftime.

Coming back after the half, 2200 Club had the ball but failed to score on their first drive. Beach City Market made the first basket of the half with a 2-point shot by Culley. Then Ahlston scored with a basket of his own to bring Beach City Market’s lead to 13 points. Janka scored 3 points on a basket and a free throw to close the gap back down to 10 points.

Beach City Market’s Sergio Villegas scored 4 points with two back-to-back baskets, including one off a steal and a fast break.

Janka managed to sink a shot off the rebound, but missed two free throws immediately afterward. Culley scored on another shot, followed by 4 points by Ahlston before 2200 Club called a timeout to regroup.

The timeout seemed to benefit 2200 Club, as they came back and scored 12 points, including baskets from Nunez and Janka. This topped off a big push by 2200 Club and with only 5:35 left in the game, Beach City Market led by only 6 points.

The last five minutes of the game belonged to Beach City Market, however, as they scored 10 more points and dominated play.

In other games, The Welch Group barely got past AAA Mortgage Market with a slim 44-42 win, while Urban Mo’s beat Colorworks Painting 52-42.

Tom Nagashima led all scorers with 24 points, while Demke scored 21 points. AAA’s Larry Granville and Urban Mo’s Andrew Mitchell each scored 19, while Janka and Patchett scored 17.

All San Diego Hoops games are played at the Joan Kroc Center, located at 6845 University Ave., each Wednesday from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.

Due to the holiday break, S.D. Hoops’ next games will be played on Wednesday, Jan. 10. For more information about S.D. Hoops, visit their Web site at www.sdhoops.net.