Tigers Top Santa Ana, 86-80, last Friday in Regular Season Finale for Both

SANTA ANA -- One axiom in athletics is that it is difficult to defeat the same team three times in the same season. The third time proved to be the charm as the Riverside City College (RCC) Tigers men's basketball team atoned for two previous losses with an 86-80 Orange Empire Conference (OEC) victory over the host Santa Ana College (SAC) Dons last Friday night (Feb. 20) at historic Bill Cook Gymnasium (built in 1954).

Riverside (10-17, 5-7 OEC, tied for fourth place) trailed, 6-0, on a pair of three-pointers before sophomore forward Taj Adams (Los Angeles / Fairfax '12) gave RCC a 13-12 lead on a layin with 9:47 left. The Tigers led, 39-28, at halftime, thanks to a jump shot by Adams with :03 left.

The Dons closed to within, 53-50, at 10:59 on a pair of free throws by Chris Kapano before a 13-3 run by RCC gave it a 66-53 lead with 8:16 to play and was able to keep SAC at bay.

Adams finished with 21 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Sophomore guard Jelani Mitchell (Pasadena / Muir HS) added 20 points and freshman guard Sage Woodruff (Los Angeles / Fairfax HS) chipped in with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

For Santa Ana (13-14, 5-7 OEC, tied for fourth place), Kyle Kintzle, who helped the Dons get to within five (80-75) on a three-pointer with 57 seconds left in the game, led all scorers with 22 points followed by Du'Juan Williams with 14 points and Justin Bryan with 13 points.

During the 27-game season, Adams led the Tigers in scoring (11.8 points per game) and rebounding (8.2 average). Woodruff was next in scoring (10.4 ppg), followed by Mitchell (10.1 ppg). Mitchell led in assists (2.4 per game). All three were the only three to play in all 27 games.

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