Photo by Bobby R. Hester
Photo by Bobby R. Hester

No. 16 Riverside Sweeps Series against Orange Coast

The Riverside City College men's basketball team traveled to Orange Coast College to face the Pirates for the second-consecutive time in the past four days due to an early-season reschedule. After routing OCC last Friday, the Tigers kept the same trend leading to another dominant win by the final score of 72-51.

The victory placed the Tigers comfortably in third place with seven conference games remaining. The first and second place teams, Fullerton and Santiago Canyon, still remain on the schedule. Riverside is currently riding a four-game winning streak.

It was an all-around strong night as the Tigers dominated every major category aside from free throw shooting. They shot 38.6 percent from the floor and scored 34 points in the paint to the Pirates' 16. Orange Coast never led in the game.

It was much of the same story with the Tigers getting out to a big lead and maintaining the distance throughout the contest. Four of the Tiger's five starters landed in double-digit points with sophomore point guard Melvin Walker flushing a team-high 15 points. He hit three of four triples and a pair of free throws. Additionally, he hauled in seven rebounds and dished out a pair of assists.

Sophomore duo Zekiah LoVett and Robert Ayala each finished with 13 points. LoVett pocketed three steals and dished out two assists, while Ayala hauled in eight rebounds.

Freshman guard Jalen Monroe hauled in 10 boards and chipped in six points to lead the bench.

Sophomore Amir Davis was tattooed around the box score and recorded another double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. He also added four assists, three steals and three blocks. Sophomore guard Edwyn Collins dropped eight points, but earned 10 rebounds, four assists and a game-high four steals.