His Airness Michael Jordan once said, “I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.”

SWC’s men’s basketball team could take a hint from royalty.

In the second round of the Cuyamaca/SWC Tournament, the Jaguars (4-6) took on Barstow Community College (1-7) in the consolation bracket and won, 68-64.

“I am not a stats person,” said freshman forward Lamar Weston. “All I do is look for that W, and I’m happy when I do.”

Barstow was oversized, but SWC was not overmatched. Barstow was first to score. Minutes later, Weston put the Jags on the scoreboard with a jump shot, 2-2. The Jag defense held Barstow from taking the lead. With 10:12 to go in the first half, the Jags were up 18-12. Bad passes causing lost possessions took SWC’s chances to run away with the lead. At the end of the first half, the Jags were down, 34-33.

“The game against SD Mesa was a wake up call,” said freshman guard Jay Stone. “We played with more intensity, and we wanted it more.”

In the second half, both teams were tied at 34 with 18:37 left in the game. The Jags lost their lead due to bad passing, impatient shots and leaving Barstow players wide open. With 14:39 to go, Stone stole the ball and made a layup. SWC was down, 41-36. The Jags started playing full court press, and were tied with Barstow, 47-47 with 10:59 left. SWC and Barstow were neck-and-neck for the rest of the game. With 1:48 left, freshman guard Devonte Sims made a much-needed three for a 62-59 lead. Moments later, sophomore guard Hassan Farah had Barstow chasing him into the paint. Farah threw a no-look behind his head pass to freshman swingman Dominique Miller for a jump shot, 64-59. After a series of fouls, the Jags kept the lead and won the game, 68-64.

“Our defense was the best today,” said Stone. “We rotated well. We had five players on the court and we all had each other’s backs. We couldn’t lose at home. We had to protect the house. But we did gamble a bit. Playing safe is my biggest thing. I don’t steal the ball unless I’m 100 percent sure that I can.”

“I’m really glad we won,” said SWC head coach John Cosentino. “We played the worst game of the year yesterday against San Diego Mesa College. It looked like we had just met. It has been a struggle with everyone so brand new. We are a young team.”

In the first round of the Cuyamaca/SWC Tournament, the Jaguars (4-5) lost to San Diego Mesa College (3-5), 82-63.

“I don’t even want to think about that game,” said Weston. “It was horrible.”

Stone agreed that the loss to SD Mesa was bad.

“We all make mistakes, myself included,” he said. “The intensity wasn’t there. We didn’t play hard, or smart. We unfortunately got out hustled a lot. ”

Cosentino agreed with his players, but accepted some of the blame.

“We are not super experienced,” he said. “We have to play together for 40 minutes, and I’m not doing a good job right now with who are the right five guys on the court and at what time. And I’m guessing. It should be more organized. And now we are down to two games before conference, so I have two games to figure it out all out.”

The Jaguars lost in the championship game of the Grossmont Invitational against Cerritos College (2-4), 72-68.

“I’m a competitor and I want to win every game,” said Stone. “We were in a tough tournament and our goal was to win at least two of the three games. And we did that, so even in losing the championship, there was still success out of failure.”

In the first half the Jaguars struggled. Both teams were not making their shots and with 11:25 to go the Jags trailed, 18-16. SWC’s defense created a lot of plays but was unable to score. SWC’s biggest challenge was not Cerritos College, but their own uncontested shots, especially layups. The Jags lost the lead at the end of the first half, 35-26.

With 16:31 to go in the second half, the Jags started to mount a comeback, 38-35. SWC started to put pressure on Cerritos and boxed them out for rebounds. After a series of good looks, with 10:59 left in the game, the Jags found themselves tied with Cerritos, 44-44. After a time out, SWC stopped rebounding and playing aggressive defense. The Jags encountered their number one enemy again, uncontested shots. Cerritos took advantage of SWC’s offensive weaknesses with 7:44 left in the game and took the lead, 53-44. A last ditch effort by the Jags did not go unnoticed by Cerritos. A very frustrated Stone tried to create plays and drew fouls, but could not win the game by himself. SWC lost, 68-57.

“I consider myself a leader on the team,” said Stone. “The team is starting to gel more and we kind of fit together like a puzzle, and I’m just a piece in that. I have good teammates that make me feel comfortable. They trust me and I play with a lot of passion. I think they respect that and respond well to it.”

SWC’s point leader was Weston with 15 points. Cerritos out-rebounded the Jags 43 to 27. SWC shot 52.6 percent at the free throw line, compared to Cerritos’ 73.7 percent. Sloppy passes, the lack of defense and turnovers definitely hurt SWC. The Jags were their own worst enemies.

“We got to the finals of the tournament,” said Cosentino. “Our goal was to win the tourney. We ran out of gas a little bit in the third game against Cerritos. We played together. I’m really working on my patience with them right now. Its not their fault that they are inexperienced we just didn’t have enough. We have all new guys so its hard, but we aren’t brand new anymore.”

In the second round of the Grossmont Invitational, the Jags (3-4) beat Imperial Valley College (3-3), 60-58.

The game started off slow. With 14:33 to go, the Jags were up 12-3 after a 3-point er from Farah. SWC let IVC catch up, 13-12. After that, the Jags defense held IVC from scoring for about seven minutes. SWC kept connecting from long range, shutting out IVC in the process. Both teams found their rhythm and by the end of the first half the Jags were up, 33-27.

The second half started as slow as the first. Scoring was sparse between both teams. With 16:25 to go, SWC made a pair of free throws by freshman guard Darnell Williams, 35-29. The rest of the game was filled with missed shots, substitutions, and fouls. With 9:47 to go, Miller made a three, bringing the score to 44-37. SWC fouled and turned the ball over often. Luckily, time ran out before IVC could capitalize on the Jag’s mistakes. SWC won, 60-58.

SWC was able to make 22 points off turnovers, but IVC made 29 points. The point leaders were Farah, Miller and freshman guard/forward Robert Perez, each scoring 14.

In the first round of the Grossmont Invitational, SWC (2-4) beat Cypress College (1-3), 72-68.

Within seconds of the first half, Cypress College forced a turnover, but missed the layup. The Jags were first to score with a layup by Williams, 2-0. SWC and Cypress were neck-and-neck the whole first half. The first half ended in a tie, 30-30.

Miller scored first for the Jags with a jump shot in the second half, 32-32. With 15:00 until the end of the game, the Jags were down, 42-37.

The Jags came back by shooting threes and jump shots, but Cypress fought hard to hold on. Farah made a three with 4:59 left in the game the Jags were up, 55-52. With 1:56 to go, Stone made the team’s last eight out of 12 shots. SWC won, 72-68.

The Jags made 19 out of 23 (82.6 percent) of their free throws. Miller was the nights point leader, making 18 points.

The Jags are 6-6 for the season. The next home game is Jan. 9 against Pasadena.