South Puget Sound arrived at the NWAC Championships on the morning of March 10th as the #1 seed in the NWAC West Region, and were presented their West Region Championship trophy just minutes before tipping off against Yakima Valley College. Less than ten minutes later Sophomores AJ Hodges and Wesley Reynolds were involved in a violent collision that would result in NWAC West Region MVP AJ Hodges missing the remainder of the game and ending his season. As Yakima Valley pushed their lead to 12 the Clippers went to their bench and started forcing their way back into the game. By halftime #4 seed Yakima Valley was only in front by four points and the Clippers were starting to get some defensive stops using their signature zone defense.
As the second half went on, South Puget Sound found an offensive rhythm and continued to dominate the offensive glass, eventually taking the lead midway through the second half. "I was so impressed by the way our guys rebounded and battled for extra possessions," said Coach Aaron Landon. "That's the physicality and toughness we pride ourselves on and it showed up in the most important moment of our season." The Clippers gathered 24 offensive rebounds, and got several key baskets on second opportunities.
Late in the game Yakima Valley's All-Region star Gamaun Boykin hit a deep three from the wing in the final minute of regulation to give Yakima a one point lead with less than 20 seconds to play. On the following possession, DeMonte Malloy, who led the Clippers with 21 points, drove the ball into the lane and connected on a floater with six seconds remaining to put the Clippers up 76-75. A buzzer beating three by Yakima came up short and the Clippers advanced to the Elite 8 for the second time in program history.
"Our guys deserved this, AJ did so much to get us the #1 seed, we absolutely owed it to him to win this game when he went down with an injury," said Coach Landon. "Our guys played as tough as I've seen them play all year, I was really proud to be a part of it."
The following afternoon South Puget Sound would face Peninsula College, the #2 seed from the North Region in the Elite 8. The game began the same way, as the Clippers lost freshman guard Max Reitman for the season with a broken wrist. South Puget Sound was unable to connect early, hitting only 7-25 from the field in the first half. Peninsula took a 15 point lead into halftime after capitalizing on eight offensive rebounds in the first half.
The second half saw the Clippers shift to their full court press and force Peninsula into several turnovers and tough shots. After opening the half with a 25-11 run the Clippers found themselves trailing by one point with under ten minutes to play. In another unfortunate twist of bad luck Demonte Malloy was involved in a nasty collision and was put into concussion protocol for the remainder of the game. Peninsula was led by sophomore guard Colby Jackson late in the game as the pirates pulled away for a 69-59 win.
Coach Landon said of the season ending loss, "Our group is special, we competed and battled our way back into the game in the second half. Injuries are just part of the game and part of life, we had an opportunity late in the second half and hurt ourselves with turnovers down the stretch. We're all disappointed in the way it ended but this was a wonderful season, our guys have a lot to be proud of."
The Clippers finished the year 23-8.