From big time wins to heartbreaking losses, the 2023-24 men’s basketball season was filled with highs and lows, and some standout performances from key players.
The Palomar men’s basketball team finished the season with a 14-14 record and a 9-7 conference record but missed the playoffs.
Sophomore guard Spivey Word played in all 28 games this season for the Comets and was named to the PCAC first team. Word led the team in scoring, averaging 25 points per game. Word also averaged 3.1 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game.
Thomas Marcus played in 15 games for Palomar, averaging 19.5 points, 4.1 assists, and 7.3 rebounds per game during the 2023-24 season. Marcus was also named to the PCAC first team, along with his teammate Spivey Word.
Marcus said that this season’s performance “was good considering all that we had to go through leading up to the season and during. A lot of things happened that were uncontrollable.”
Marcus is a former D-1 football player who transitioned to basketball because of injuries. He described basketball as his “true sport” and that his basketball playing time was “never over.”
Marcus described his play this season as ” a learning year for sure, considering it was my first basketball season since high school. I can do many things better next year, such as speaking up as a leader and being in the gym more.”
Brandon Andrews, a sophomore guard, was named an honorable mention to all PCAC teams. Andrews averaged 10.8 points and shot 51.9% from the field during the season.
When asked about his personal performance this season, Andrews said, “I think I did a great job of being more vocal as a leader this season than before, keeping everybody on the same page.”
The team faced some rough stretches throughout the season. From December 1st to January 5th, the Comets lost eight straight games. Andrews said the losing streak was “tough for us, but the coach always kept the morale and energy up for us and believed in us turning it around.”
Turn it around, they did, after starting the season 5-10 with eight straight losses, the Comets went on to win nine of their final 13 games.
This was the fourth straight season that the men’s basketball team had finished with a .500 or better record.
