Riverside Grabs Last-Second Thrilling Victory

It came down to the final seconds, but Riverside City College battled for a 75-74 victory over San Diego Mesa College Wednesday night in its home opener. With the win, the Tigers improve to 3-1 on the year, while the Olympians open the season at 0-1.

Four Tigers finished in double figures, led by Christian Warren with 20 points (8-for-19). Deacon Toliver followed with 16 points (6-for-11), while Isaiah Williams (5-for-10) and Andre Skelin (4-for-10) chipped in 12 and 11 points, respectively. Warren and Skelin also grabbed 11 and 10 respective rebounds for double-doubles.

Riverside led by as many as 16 points at one point, but San Diego Mesa managed to not just close the gap but jump in front by 10 with just over a minute left to play after keeping the Tigers to a 33.3 shooting percentage in the second half.

Still, the Tigers never lost their fight, and Warren drained a big three off a Joby Barnes assist to put RCC back within single digits.

Riverside called a timeout and with 37 seconds left, Warren grabbed a steal before Tyson Thornton knocked down another important trey to put the home team within four. Barnes got another big steal and found Warren on the perimeter to make it a one-point game.

SD Mesa was sent to the free throw line with 11 seconds on the clock but missed both.

With seconds on the clock, Thornton drove to the basket and missed, but Warren scooped the offensive board and banked in a tip-in to put the Tigers in front, 75-74, with 1.2 seconds remaining. The Olympians called a timeout and tried to get a Hail Mary shot off, but it was just off target to seal the victory for the Tigers.

RCC remains at home to host No. 3-ranked Citrus College on Tuesday, tipping off at 5 p.m.