Cypress Prevails 65-46 Over Host Riverside Tuesday Night

RIVERSIDE -- The Cypress College Chargers put together a 9-0 run midway through the first half and kept the host Riverside City College (RCC) Tigers men's basketball team at bay Tuesday night (Feb. 9) in a 65-46 Orange Empire Conference (OEC) decision at historic Arthur N. Wheelock Gymnasium.

Cypress (20-6, 7-3 OEC, third place) led, 10-9, before that 9-0 spurt gave it a 19-10 lead and it was never headed again. The Chargers led, 35-16, at halftime. Cypress' 20th win of the season marked the first time that it has posted a 20-win season since the 1992-93 campaign when then-head coach Don Johnson guided the program to a 26-9 record in his penultimate season as the Chargers' mentor.

In the second half, Cypress posted its biggest lead at 52-27 with 9:48 to play before the Tigers made a game of it to narrow the gap to 55-43 with 4:45 left, thanks to a 10-0 run. But then the Chargers starters returned to the game and bumped the margin back up to near 20 points.

Sophomore forward Jordan Fleck led Cypress with a game-high 20 points despite hitting on only five of 13 field goal attempts and nine of 17 free throw attempts. Fleck had a co-team-high eight rebounds and a game-high six assists. Sophomore forward had 18 points for the Chargers.

For Riverside (11-15 overall, 3-7 OEC), sophomore guard Kevin Pritchett (Los Angeles / Fremont HS '08 / Compton CC) led the Tigers with 13 points and added seven rebounds. Freshman guard Andy Cleaves II (Riverside / John W. North HS '14) added ten points and eight boards. Sophomore forward Sage Woodruff (Los Angeles / Fairfax HS '14) had a game-high ten rebounds.