Dylan Swillis became just the seventh player in Pasadena City College's 100-year history in men's basketball to score at least 40 points in a game, but his heroic 41-point performance only served as a highlight in the Lancers' 80-75, SoCal Regional Round 2 Playoff defeat at #2 Citrus on Saturday night.
At the #15 seed, PCC closes the 2024-25 season at 18-12 as head coach Ryan Frazer has directed the Lancers to a 4-3 record in postseason games in three straight appearancers in the Regionals in his three seasons since being hired. The program had won just one game the season (2021-22) prior to coming to PCC and since that time the Lancers are 59-32 for a sparkling .648 winning percentage.
The Lancers trailed by 10, then 34-26 by halftime. In the second half, PCC grabbed a brief lead at 39-37 on a 3-pointer by Darrius Freeman. A 13-0 Owls run made it 54-41 with a little more than 10 minutes remaining
The deficit was too steep as PCC cut it to five, 78-73, on two Freeman free throws with 35 seconds to go and Swillis added a late layup for the game's final basket. Led by Tyler Isaak's 21 points, Citrus (27-2) advances to the regional finals next Saturday v. Cypress.
Swillis made an outstanding 16 of 19 shots from the field (.842 accuracy), made two treys and was 7-for-9 at the free throw line. He added 14 rebounds and two blocked shots. The last time a PCC player reached 40 points was 12 years ago when Taj Spencer netted 43 in a tournament game v. Victor Valley.
"Dylan is a special player and even though he was inconsistent in the South Coast Conference part of the schedule, he really stepped up in the postseason," Frazer said. "He rose to the occasion and did everything he could do to give us a fighting chance v. a great Citrus team. Our downfall was we made too many turnovers (24), but I was pleased with our compete level all game."
Swillis finishes his PCC career with 860 points, placing him #21 on the Lancers All-Time Scoring List.
Another Lancer making some history was point guard and fellow All-SCC North Division First Team selection Jalen Vazquez, the state leader in assists. He finished with six points, nine assists and five steals in the playoff loss. Vazquez's 230 assists this season fell just eight short of the PCC single-season record and his 7.931 average was just percentage points behind the school record of 7.933 set by Corey Caston (238 assists) in the 2008-09 season.
Overall, Vazquez's 379 career helpers is #2 on the PCC All-Time List, led by Caston at 398. He is one of just three Lancers to ever reach 200 assists in a season with Paul Campbell the other (200, in 1986-87).
"Jalen ran our offense for two seasons and two playoff runs," Frazer said. "He is such a dynamic player and his court vision and basketball IQ is terrific. I'm so happy he achieved great heights as one of the best point guards ever at PCC."
Against Citrus, Quinlan Daly added 10 points off the bench, Freeman tallied nine points and five assists, and Kaiden Fine added five points. Swillis, Vazquez, Fine all closed out their 2-year PCC careers.