San Jose City College men’s basketball opened its 2024-25 season on Nov. 2. The Jaguars started off well by winning their first two games by the scores of 84-80 and 70-67 against Modesto and De Anza, respectively. The De Anza matchup kicked off the San Jose City Tip Off Classic.

The team did however, fall in its second game of the tourney to Lassen College 74-69, but bounced back with a 70-66 victory over Lemoore.

The 4-1 Jaguars then hit the road to Diablo Valley College Nov. 14 and topped the Vikings by a dozen, 73-61.

The team then wheeled it to Santa Maria to participate in the Home Motors Tournament hosted by Allan Hancock Community College, where the Jaguars took home two out of three victories against Allan Hancock and Barstow. The Jags’ lone loss came to San Diego City in a four-point defeat.

The team closed the month with a heartbreaking 85-84 loss to Feather River at home on Nov. 27.

The Jaguars’ leading scorer has been point guard Matt McAndrews, who has averaged 16.4 points per game on 55.4% shooting from the field and 4.6 assists per game.

The sophomore’s best game came Nov. 9 against Lemoore, dropping 28 points on 11-22 shooting, snagging 5 rebounds, dishing out 8 assists and recording 4 steals.

Seeing how McAndrews continues to develop his game this season will be fun to follow.

The Jaguars have had a strong start to the season, finishing the month of November 6-3. They averaged over 75 points per game on 45% shooting from the field during November. While they didn’t perform well from behind the 3-point line, they excelled on the boards with 32.1 rebounds per game, including 10.3 offensive rebounds. Things to clean up are turnovers, as they are averaging 16 per game.

With December well underway, the Jaguars have their work cut out for them, as they will play six games and host the Coach Carr Classic to honor the legacy of Percy Carr, who passed away in June. Carr was the winningest head coach in Jaguars men’s basketball history, with 900 wins at SJCC.