Photos by Bobby R. Hester
Photos by Bobby R. Hester

Crosstown Rivals Square Up in CCCAA Southern Regional Playoff Finale

For the third-consecutive season, the Riverside City College men's basketball team has advanced to the final round of the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Southern Regional finals. They look to make it to their second consecutive state championship tournament and standing in their way is crosstown rival San Bernardino Valley College.

The Inland Empire showdown will take place on the campus of San Bernardino Valley College on Saturday, March 5 at 7 p.m. Live stats will be available and their will be a charge for admission. All information can be found here.

The sixth-seeded Tigers are riding a 13 game winning streak after defeating the 22nd seeded Copper Mountain College Fighting Cacti, 88-59, in the second round of the playoffs and the second time this season. The third-seeded Wolverines have won their last seven games after routing Orange Empire Conference (OEC) foe Cypress 73-56.

San Bernardino and Riverside have a storied history over the past eight years. The two juggernaut squads met earlier this season in late November and the Wolverines bested the Tigers, 73-55.  In their last eight meetings, the Tigers have won only two of the eight games. San Bernardino has won the past two meetings and the Tigers look to axe the mini winning streak.  

Riverside has relied on a number of weapons making it hard to hone in on one specific weapon. Sophomore forward Amir Davis leads the pack in many categories as he ranks in the top three scoring (11.4 PPG), rebounds (eight RPG), steals (2.3 SGP), and assists (3.4 ASG). He was recently nmed the OEC Co-MVP and the Defensive Player of the Year.

Sophomore Edwyn Collins has been on a scoring spree by averaging 13.2 PPG. He his coming off a 23-point game where he drained four three pointers. He has scored 10 or more points in the last seven games and has scored 20 or more points in three of those games.

 Sophomore Zekiah LoVett is heating up after landing in double digits the past three games. He is coming off a 16 point showing by draining four three pointers. He has hit three or more triples in the past three games as well.