Halfway through the Region 10 season, the Virginia Peninsula Community College men’s basketball team is in first place thanks to a 3-0 week.
The big week started Jan. 13 with an 84-51 home victory over Camp Community College. Jayden Sepulveda (Landstown High School) led the Gators with 20 points and added eight rebounds. Monte Gatlin (Churchland) had 19 points, Jakobe Reed (Woodside) 14 points and seven assists, and Ky’Saan Bevier (Weldon, N.C.) 13 points. The Gators (13-6, 4-1) led 34-22 at the half and coasted from there.
Three days later, the Gators traveled to North Carolina and defeated Sandhills Community College 83-82, beating the 11th-ranked team in the country in NJCAA Division III. The teams split their regular-season games last season before Sandhills won the Region 10 championship game in overtime.
“They’ve been the top dog for a long time,” said VPCC coach Chris Moore. “They play extremely fast. They crashed the glass extremely hard.”
Moore concentrated on depth with last year’s recruiting class, which paid off against the Flyers.
“Even though we were out a few players, I still knew that we had enough to be able to compete,” Moore said. “We just had to make sure that we were sound and disciplined across the board.”
Chris Cyrus (Hampton Christian Academy) and Jordan Watlington (Menchville) each had 20 points, with Watlington adding six rebounds. Reed contributed 17 points and six assists. The Gators led 51-40 at the half behind Cyrus’ four 3-pointers. For the game, the Gators were 8 for 22 on 3-pointers, and Sandhills was just 1 of 14.
“We have to continue to hang our hat on making sure we defend the 3 and then making sure that we do a good job scoring on the opposite end,” Moore said.
The Gators extended their halftime lead before hanging on for the win.
“That 16-point lead that we did drop was because of the lack of attention to detail, but overall, it was a huge win for the program,” Moore said.
It was the Gators’ second victory this season over a ranked foe. In November, the Gators beat then-No. 8 Bunker Hill CC 97-86. They nearly upset No.9 Northern Essex Community College, taking a 14-point halftime lead before losing 77-74. Those performances led to the Gators receiving votes in the national poll for just the second time in program history, but they dropped out after just one week. In January 2025, the Gators also were ranked for one week.
VPCC closed out its big week with a 91-80 victory Jan. 18 over host Tidewater Community College. The Gators, who led 48-36 at the half, had four players in double figures: Watlington 21, Sepulveda 16, Gatlin 12 and Cyrus 12.
Their next game is Jan. 21 at Chowan University against the Hawks’ JV team. They return home Jan. 24 against Patrick & Henry Community College in another big Region 10 contest. Tipoff is 2 p.m. at SafeHaven Empowerment Center.
Sandhills is in second place in Region 10 Division III with a 3-1 record, followed by Camp (3-2), Oxford College of Emory University (2-3), Patrick & Henry (1-2) and Tidewater (0-4).
For more on sports, go to www.vpccgators.com.