Armenia Basketball tops Costa Rica at Tarkanian Classic
On June 6, the Armenia men’s national basketball team made a highly anticipated appearance at Fresno City College (FCC), where it dominated the Costa Rica men’s national basketball team (86-62) at the Tarkanian Classic.
Their presence in Fresno was about more than a bustling crowd and a victorious game. It marked the beginning of the team’s ultimate journey to the 2028 Olympics and honored the late Jerry Tarkanian, described by the Basketball Hall of Fame as “one of basketball’s all-time great characters.” Tarkanian’s son, Danny Tarkanian, was recognized at the game along with his family.
“It was very touching, and it was a great honor to have it named after my father, because my father was so close with the Armenian community,” Danny said. “He would be having a great time if he were alive and able to watch it.”
The FCC Gymnasium was packed with excited fans waving Armenian flags, shouting their support for the team and holding custom-made towels commemorating Jerry Tarkanian.
“The energy was amazing, because everybody’s Armenian around us,” said attendee Anita Boghossian.
Boghossian explained that, while she is not a huge basketball fan, she still wanted to come out and join the action.
“Wherever there’s [an] Armenian sport event, we’re there to support them,” she said.
Head coach Rex Kalamian spoke about the importance of showing up for fans in the diaspora. In Fresno alone, there are approximately 50,000 Armenians.
“I think that we have a lot of talent, and we want to display the talent and make sure that the fans feel like they can support our team,” Kalamian said. “I want to be a team that every group, every region of Armenians can support.”
Before and during the game
Before the game, Kalamian gave insight into the team’s attitude heading into the matchup with Costa Rica, which he described as “really good.”
“We had five really good practices. Everybody’s gotten adjusted to the time zone now,” he said.
Players on the Armenian team come from all over the world—including Spain, Armenia and the United States. Despite the geographical challenges, Kalamian is confident that the team will exponentially progress.
“I think we’re a resilient group. Whether we’re down a lot or we’re up, we continue to fight. We continue to play hard and we persevere,” he said. “I use the word resiliency a lot with our team, because I think it’s a natural thing.”
Though hopeful for the game, Kalamian admitted he had some concerns about how Armenia would compete against Costa Rica.
“I haven’t seen Costa Rica; I’m a little worried because we’re not as big,” he said. “We have three bigs, and other than that, we’re kind of average height.”
After the teams warmed up and the audience settled in, the game commenced at 7 p.m.
In the first quarter, Costa Rica and Armenia fought a close battle. After an initial shortfall, Armenia maintained the lead with scores moving from 9-7 to 9-8. The crowd roared with every point missed and gained.
Momentum shifted during the second quarter, and the first half ended with Armenia up 35-27. At halftime, attendees clapped and swayed their arms to a traditional Armenian dance performance by the Fresno Armenian Dance Group.
Once the second half began, Armenia’s number on the board rose quickly. With seven minutes left in the third quarter, Armenia led 41-29 and maintained control en route to an 86-62 victory.
Postgame reflections
After the game, audience members, players and coaches gathered on the floor to take photos and discuss the team’s performance.
Shooting guard Connor Essegian, who scored 15 points for Armenia, reflected on the night. While his confidence was high going into the game, he expressed dissatisfaction with their performance.
“We didn’t play great. There’s a lot more we can do to play better,” Essegian said. “To be able to just stick together and pull out and almost win by 20 in a tough game like that was really good for us.”
Essegian shared his main focus going into Sunday’s game against Costa Rica at Crescenta Valley High School.
“We got to take care of the ball a lot better,” he said. “Limit turnovers and get good shots consistently, then it will take our game to the next level on Sunday.”
Essegian added that the team will continue to work toward competing in the Olympics, though they have a long way to go.
Kalamian agreed that while the team secured a win, their performance was “rusty.”
“We fell down seven or eight points early in the game. We weren’t shooting the ball very well, but we kind of hung in there and showed our resilience to the game, and then we were able to take the lead,” Kalamian said. “I expect us to play better on Sunday.”
He added that the team will sit down before Sunday’s game to come up with a different strategy, now having learned how Costa Rica plays.
Shooting guard Andre Spight Mkrtchyan carried the game by scoring 21 points, the most out of every player. He also felt that the team struggled at first, but managed to pull through.
“Throughout the whole game, we didn’t play well, but I think in the second half, we found our rhythm—and that was the deciding factor,” he said.
Mkrtchyan also said he is happy to have watched his teammates play, despite the initial uncertainty.
“[Watching] some guys [who] haven’t stepped or put on an Armenian jersey before make a shot, make a layup, get in the game—that’s what really made me proud,” he said.
Looking ahead to Sunday, Mkrtchyan said the team needs to bring more intensity and make more shots.
“[The] ultimate goal for us as a national team is to just keep expanding and getting recognition throughout the world,” he said. “We’re a very small country, so we want to do big things.”
It seems that, wherever Armenians go in competition, they are met with landslides of support. Friday’s game was no exception, as it brought the community together. It was a prime example of how encouragement can propel others to greatness.
All photos courtesy of Anahid Valencia.
Anahid Valencia
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