By Miguel Dominguez
The men’s basketball team won against Riverside City College 94-77. Constant pressure gave the Huskies dominance in the game. This forced Riverside turnovers and missed shots. Riverside had a total of 19 turnovers, which resulted in 25 points for the Huskies. They also made 10 fastbreak points.
It was a fast-paced game in the first half. The Huskies got it going as they made their shots and got back on the defense quickly. This made Riverside use up most of the shot clock as they passed the ball around. Riverside looked to drive in the ball, but the Huskies double teamed players. This forced shots and led to missed passes.
These tactics led to the Huskies committing many team fouls. Coach John Mosley had to sub in players to avoid fouling out.
The bench did its part, as they outscored Riverside 37 to 16. The Huskies led in the first half 44-30, then Riverside got close as they caught up to the Huskies 48-46, early in the second half. But, the Huskies got back into the rhythm they had earlier in the first half.
For the rest of the half, the Huskies continued their dominance and used up the clock by passing and holding on to the ball. This also made the crowd quiet, but guard Demetrius Calip got the crowd cheering when he did a reverse dunk. Calip was surrounded by a couple of his teammates and fans as they cheered him on. That was the last shot in the game.
Riverside only led once, and it came early in the game. The score was 3-2.
The Huskies took the lead when guard Jon Sanders shot a two pointer and gave the Huskies a 4-3 lead. From that moment on, the Huskies never trailed in the game.
ELAC had 32 points from the paint. From the field, the Huskies made 55% going 30-54. The Huskies made 7-13 three-pointers. Riverside made 75% from the free throw line, The Huskies made 69% of their shots.
Sanders led the Huskies in scoring with 26 points. Sanders was nearly perfect in shooting, as Sanders went 8-8 from the field and 4-4 from the three-point line. He went 6-8 from the free throw line. Sanders also led the team with five assists.
J.T. Langston struggled in scoring points as he had a total of seven points for the Huskies. He did contribute to the team with four rebounds, four assists, one steal, and one block. Langston went 5-8 from the free throw line.
Mosley and the Huskies will go on to the next round and face LA Harbor in the SoCal Regional Final. The game will be played on March 4 and starts at 7 p.m. and will be played at ELAC.