Saddleback Fullerton, Chaffey and host Riverside all Advance to Thursday's Semifinals

44^th Annual Riverside Holiday Basketball Tournament, Dec. 8-11, 2015

Wednesday, Dec. 9 (day 2 of 4), Riverside City College, host; all championship bracket games at Wheelock Gym; consolation bracket semifinal games at Huntley Gym.

Game 5, 1 p.m.: SaddlebaAck College Gauchos (9-1) 84, Citrus College Owls (6-5) 63;

Game 6, 3 p.m.: Fullerton Coll. Hornets (10-3) 74, San Bernardino Vy. Coll. Wolverines (11-2) 67;

Game 7, 5 p.m.: Chaffey Coll. Panthers (9-3) 63, Mt. San Jacinto Coll. Eagles (9-2) 59;

Game 8, 7 p.m.: Riverside City Coll. Tigers (7-4) 74, Pasadena City Coll. Lancers (3-5) 56;

Game 9, 2 p.m., Huntley Gym: Cerritos Falcons (6-3) 82, Barstow Vikings (2-10) 51;

Game 10, 4 p.m., Huntley Gym: L.A. Pierce Brahmas (5-8) 88, Compton Tartars (3-6) 86 (OT);

Note: Cerritos will play L.A. Pierce for the consolation championship (ninth place) on Friday, Dec. 11, at 1 p.m. in Wheelock Gym.

Thursday, Dec. 10 games (all at Wheelock Gym):

Game 13, 1 p.m. (fifth-place semifinal #1): Citrus vs. San Bernardino Valley;

Game 14, 3 p.m. (fifth-place semifinal #2): Mt. San Jacinto vs. Pasadena City;

Game 11, 5 p.m. (champ. semifinal #1): Saddleback vs. Fullerton;

Game 12, 7 p.m. (champ. semifinal #2): Chaffey vs. Riverside

***

RIVERSIDE -- Six games were played on Wednesday, Dec. 9. At Huntley Gymnasium, Cerritos eliminated Barstow, 82-51, before Los Angeles Pierce did the same to Compton, in overtime, 88-86. In Wheelock Gymnasium, Saddleback topped Citrus, 84-63, Fullerton surprised San Bernardino Valley, 74-67, Chaffey topped Mt. San Jacinto 63-59, and host Riverside dispatched Pasadena, 74-56.

In Wednesday's action at Wheelock, in game one, the Saddleback College Gauchos broke out on top, 18-17, midway in the first half and cruised a 50-31 lead at halftime and to the victory. Devonte Klines led the Gauchos with 15 points. Jordan McNellys came off the bench to spark Citrus with a game-high 19 points.

In the 3 p.m. game, Fullerton's Ian Fox buried a three-pointer with 1:31 remaining to break a 67-67 tie. Fox had a team-high 21 points for the Hornets. Brandon Jolley had a game-high 25 points for the Wolverines.

The 5 p.m. game was quite a battle as the Chaffey Panthers edged Mt. San Jacinto. Alfred Brown's layin broke a 59-59 tie with 42 seconds to play and Victor Joseph canned a pair of free throws with eight seconds for some insurance.  Joseph had a game-high 22 points for the Panthers. Former RCC player Kendall Brown had a team-high 17 points for the Eagles.

Host Riverside finally participated in tournament action. The Tigers jumped out to a 36-27 lead late in the first half and were never headed. Andy Cleaves, II led the Tigers with 17 points, including five three-pointers. Tramel Wilson added 15 points for Riverside. Todd Barnes, whose great uncle, Joe Barnes, played on two of RCC's state championship teams in the 1960s, had a team-high 14 points and ten rebounds for the Lancers.

***

For the first time in its 44-year existence, the Riverside Holiday Tournament features 12 community college teams, instead of the usual 16-team format which had been utilized since 1982 (except for 2010 and 2011 when no tournament was held due to the reconstruction of Wheelock Gymnasium).

From 1969 through 1981, except for 1976 (no tournament) and 1977 (four-team tournament), the tournament had an eight-team format.

Riverside has won its tournament ten times (1974, '77, '81, '85, '91, '92, '94, '95, 2006, '09), followed by (now defunct) Los Angeles City, which won it seven times (1982, '96, 1999-2000-2001, 2003-2004). The Tigers have been tournament runners-up 13 times.

Defending state- and Riverside Holiday Tournament champion Saddleback has won it four times (1986, 2008, 2012, 2014). Fullerton has won the Riverside Holiday Tournament twice (1993 and 2005) and was runner-up in 2008. Chaffey won the tournament in 2013.

-30-