No. 11 Riverside City topples No. 2 Fullerton in SoCal showdown, 66-55
CCCAA Men's Basketball: Scoreboard l Standings l Top 30 Rankings
FULLERTON - It was a battle of the top two teams in the Orange Empire Conference (OEC) as the No. 13 Riverside City College men's basketball team hit the road to face off against the No. 2 Fullerton College Hornets. The Hornets, who were holding a flawless 10-0 record in conference play, became the latest victims of the red-hot Tigers and were tabbed with their first loss by the final score of 66-55.
Riverside pushed their winning streak to nine in a row after taking down the South's highest-ranking squad. They recently took down the state's fifth-ranked team in Santiago Canyon proving they are the team to beat moving into the final week of action.
The game had six ties and 11 lead changes, but the Tigers were in control of the game the majority of the time. After the Hornets had a two-point lead with just under 17 minutes remaining, the Tigers went on a 10-0 run and never looked back.
The streak began on the defensive end with a steal from sophomore guard Edwyn Collins which led to a layup from sophomore guard Zekiah LoVett. Sophomore point guard Melvin Walker backed the bucket on the ensuing possession with a three-pointer, followed by a layup from freshman guard Jalen Monroe. Sophomore guard Amir Davis capped the mini-run by hitting his sixth three-pointer of the season leading to a 52-43 advantage.
Fullerton trimmed the Tiger lead to eight points with under five minutes to go, but Riverside was able to keep them at bay leading to the win.
RCC was electric from the floor by shooting just under 50 percent. They shot exceptionally well from long range featuring a 42.9 clip. Sophomore forward Robert Ayala hit the first trio of three-pointers and was the leading scorer with 13 points and two blocks. He had a strong rebound performance after being shut out in the past two games.
Walker ran the offense leading to 11 points, four steals, three rebounds and three assists. Collins backed him with 10 points, eight rebounds, six assists and five steals.
(Nicho DellaValle, Riverside City Athletics)