By Rogelio Alvarez
Men’s Basketball defeated Rio Hondo College 94-64 last Friday at Rio.
East Los Angeles College extended its winning streak to six games.
They are now 7-1 in the Southern Coast North Conference and 22-5 overall.
“Our main focus right now is to take it one game at a time and work toward our goal of winning the conference championship,” ELAC Assistant coach Darren French said.
ELAC dominated throughout the game after a quick start. Sophomore guards Roderick Williams and Frank Bertz lead the team to victory.
Rio had an early lead in the beginning of the game after scoring a 3 pointer, but Bertz responded with a 3 pointer of his own and regained the lead for ELAC.
“They’re a really good 3-point shooting team. Coach Mosley was real adamant about making sure we stay up on shooters and defended the 3-point shot,” French said.
Bertz finished the game with 22 points and made six 3-pointers out of eight attempts.
Williams speed and aggressiveness in the paint made it difficult for Rio to defend against him.
The team’s movement off the ball allowed Williams to have enough space to drive the ball forward and put it in the hole.
Williams finished the game with 26 points.
Freshman forward Jacob Tryon recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
“We did a good job with everyone rebounding on defense and we just got out there and pushed the pace,” Tryon said.
Freshman center Solomon Hunt scored 10 points off the bench. Hunt’s offensive rebounds allowed ELAC to maintain its lead late during the second half.
Although ELAC scored less points in the second half than the first half, Rio never threatened to cause an upset.
Freshman guard Nick Hart was able to make difficult passes with his quick feet that allowed him to get the ball to teammates in scoring position.
Hart lead the team assists and contributed 8 points.
“We have guys coming off the bench making the extra passes and making the guys around them better,” French said.
With two games left in the season, ELAC is on its way to winning the conference title.
Before they can be crowned champions, ELAC must defeat Los Angeles Trade Tech away tonight at 7 p.m.
ELAC plays its last game of the season at home on Friday in the South Gym before preparing for the postseason.