Chaffey goes on 16-0 run, wins, 73-68; Riverside closes to within 71-68 in last half minute

43^rd Annual Riverside Holiday Basketball Tournament,

Friday, Dec. 12 (day 4 of 5), Riverside City College, host

Game #17: El Camino Coll.-Compton Tartars (4-4) 73, East L.A. Coll. Huskies (8-4) 70;

Game #19: Antelope Vy. Coll. Marauders (8-4) 71, Santa Rosa JC Bear Cubs (4-6) 66;

Game #18: Citrus Coll. Owls (4-5) 73; Fullerton Coll. Hornets (2-9) 65;

Game #20: Chaffey College Panthers (11-4) 73; at Riverside City Coll. Tigers (4-8) 68:

Game #21: Saddleback Coll. Gauchos (12-1) 57, San Bernardino Vy. Coll. Wolverines (11-2) 51;

Game #22: Mt. San Jacinto Coll. Eagles (11-3) 89, L.A. Pierce Coll. Brahmas (8-6) 74;

Chaffey goes on 16-0 run, Riverside closes to within 71-68 in last half minute

RIVERSIDE – Again seeing its opponents go on a sizable run, the host Riverside City College (RCC) Tigers men's basketball team nearly dug itself out of the hole before losing, 73-68, to the Chaffey College Panthers in a fifth-place semifinal game of the 43^rd annual Riverside Holiday Basketball Tournament Friday evening (Dec. 12) at historic Arthur N. Wheelock Gymnasium.

After going scoreless from three-point country the previous night, Riverside City (4-8) made two of its first three three-point attempts and led, 10-8, before Chaffey went on a 16-0 run (over a span of 5:20) for a 24-10 lead with 9:09 remaining in the first half. The Panthers led, 41-24, at halftime before RCC rallied in the second half and narrowed the deficit to 71-68 with 34 seconds left.

Chaffey made 23 of 60 (38.3%) field goal attempts, including 11 of 34 (32.4%) three-point attempts, while the Tigers converted on six of 13 (46.2%) treys to atone for a zero-for-11 output.

Three Panthers starters scored in double figures, led by sophomore guard Mufaro Murinda (Claremont HS), who had a game-high 19 points. RCC freshman guard Malik Hawkins (Ellison, TX) led a trio of Tigers starters in double digits with 18 points. Sophomore center Tim Folsom (Patriot HS) came off the bench to register 14 points and a game-high eight rebounds for the Tigers.

Chaffey (11-4) will advance to the fifth-place game where it will meet the Citrus College Owls (4-5) on Saturday, Dec. 13, at 3 p.m. Citrus advanced with a 73-65 win over the Fullerton College Hornets.

Elsewhere on Friday, the Saddleback College Gauchos (12-1) advanced to Saturday's tournament championship game with a 57-51 win over the San Bernardino Valley College (SBVC) Wolverines (11-2). It was Saddleback's second win in three tries this season over SBVC. The Gauchos will meet the Mt. San Jacinto College (MSJC) Eagles at 7 p.m. MSJC earned the right to face Saddleback, thanks to an 89-74 win over a pesky Los Angeles Pierce College (LAPC) Brahmas contingent.

SBVC will face LAPC in the third-place game Saturday at 5 p.m.

On the consolation side of the bracket, the El Camino College-Compton Center Tartars (4-4) upset the highly regarded East Los Angeles College (ELAC) Huskies, 73-70, to advance to Saturday's consolation championship game (ninth place). Compton will meet the Antelope Valley College (AVC) Marauders at 1 p.m. in Wheelock Gym. AVC advanced with a 71-66 win over the Contra Costa College Comets.

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