Virginia Peninsula Community College unveiled a new athletics logo at Saturday's men's basketball game, continuing the rebranding efforts at the College. The Gator remains the mascot, but the artwork was updated with a more refined and distinct look, while putting the College’s name front and center.
Faculty, staff, students, alumni and the rest of the VPCC Gator Family participated in a logo survey last year. Comments from the survey factored into the final logo design.
The new Gators logo is similar to the previous one and uses the College’s current colors and fonts, but it was custom designed for the College, can and will be copyrighted, and includes the name of the College. The logo is not to be used without the Virginia Peninsula Community College name.
Men’s basketball
The Gators (13-8, 4-4 Region 10) split two Region 10 games last week to earn the third seed in the postseason tournament.
VPCC’s regular season ended with a 71-59 loss to Patrick & Henry Community College on Feb. 15 at SafeHaven Empowerment Center. Sincere Moore (Matoaca High School/Chesterfield) had 19 points for the Gators. Kevin Johnson (Nansemond River/Suffolk) added 11.
In a low-scoring start, P&H was scoreless the first 4:28. VPCC led 14-10 with about 11 minutes left in the first half and stretched the lead to 24-15 with 6:50 remaining. The visiting Patriots, who earned the No.2 seed in the region tournament, closed to 32-28 at the half.
The Gators fell behind 39-38 about four minutes into the second half. The game was tied at 48 with 10:18 before P&H pulled away, going on a 15-4 run for a 63-52 lead with about three minutes remaining.
On Feb. 12, the Gators defeated Paul D. Camp Community College 77-67 at SafeHaven. Again. Moore was the Gators’ leading scorer, with 19 points. Jayden Sepulveda (Landstown/Virginia Beach) and Jakobe Reed (Woodside/Hampton) each had 12, and D’Cameron Haynes (Munford/Memphis, Tenn.) 11.
Camp scored the game’s first seven points, but the Gators took their first lead at 19-18 and stretched it to 23-18. However, they trailed 33-31 at the break.
The Gators went back ahead 36-35 early in the second half, and never trailed after that, although the game was tied a few times. A 3-pointer by Sepulveda gave VPCC a 56-45 lead with about 11 minutes to go. The Gators led 64-49 with 7 ½ left and kept a double-digit lead for much of the remainder of the game.
The Region 10 tournament starts Feb. 21 at Patrick & Henry with No.5 seed Oxford College of Emory University playing No. 4 Camp. The Gators have a rematch with Patrick & Henry at 3:30 p.m. Feb. 22. The championship game is Feb. 23 at 3 p.m., with the winning team earning an automatic bid to the NJCAA national tournament.
Baseball
Rain and wet grounds continued to play havoc with VPCC’s baseball schedule. A handful of games were canceled last week before the Gators (0-5) were able to schedule a last-minute doubleheader against The Apprentice School on Feb. 15. Unfortunately, the Gators lost both games, 6-2 and 6-3.
In the first game, Aidan Feather (Grassfield/Chesapeake) had three hits, including a home run, for the Gators, who gave up five runs in the last three innings. Hayden Felker (Manchester/Richmond) started on the mound for VPCC and threw four strong innings. He gave up five hits and no earned runs. The Gators committed four errors, leading to four unearned runs.
In the second game, the Gators led 3-2 but gave up four runs in three innings to suffer the loss. Justin Bryson (Arbor View/Las Vegas) had two hits for the Gators.
This week, the Gators have a doubleheader today at Bryant & Stratton starting at 1 p.m., a single game Wednesday, Feb. 19 vs. The Apprentice School at War Memorial Stadium in Hampton at 1 p.m. and a doubleheader Feb. 22 against Montgomery College at Peninsula Catholic High School. Game 1 starts at noon.