Hawkins Helps Tigers to 62-57 Home Win over Cypress Wednesday

RIVERSIDE -- Malik Hawkins scored nine consecutive points midway through the second half to lift the Riverside City College (RCC) Tigers men's basketball team to a 62-57 Orange Empire Conference (OEC) victory Wednesday (Feb. 4) over the visiting Cypress College Chargers at historic Arthur N. Wheelock Gymnasium.

Hawkins, a 6' 1 freshman guard from Ellison HS (KIlleen, TX), drained a pair of three-pointers, another jumper and added a free throw to give RCC a 49-38 lead with 11:25 to play. The Tigers trailed, 30-27, at halftime.

Riverside (9-14, 4-4 OEC) then held on as Cypress made a furious rally to close to within 58-57 with 19 seconds left.

Hawkins finished with a team-high 16 points, Jelani Mitchell added 13 points, and sophomore forward Taj Adams chipped in with ten points and a team-high eight rebounds.

For Cypress (9-14 overall, 2-6 OEC), freshman guard Jeremy Wright (Gardena / Serra HS) poured in a game-high 23 points. Freshman forward Austin Payne (El Modena HS) came off the bench to add 16 points and freshman center Isaiah Taylor pulled down a team-high nine rebounds for the Chargers.

Both teams return to OEC action on Friday, Feb. 6, at 5 p.m. when Cypress visits the Santa Ana College Dons and RCC treks to face the Orange Coast College Pirates.

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