Men’s Basketball Falls in Conference Opener, Drops Fourth Straight

After a grueling non-conference schedule, the Riverside City College men's basketball team opened Orange Empire Conference (OEC) play on the road Tuesday night by facing off against the Cypress College Chargers. There were seven ties and eight lead changes throughout the contest, but the Chargers got the last laugh after handing the Tigers a 66-61 defeat.

It was the lowest scoring game for both teams since mid-November as offense came at a premium. Riverside outshot the Chargers as seen in a 45.8 shooting mark from the floor, but a 27.8 percent from long range did not help their cause. Furthermore, they only snatched 22 rebounds to Cypress' 30 in total.

There was a large foul discrepancy with the Tigers being called for 10 more fouls than the Chargers; three on consecutive possessions to end the game.

Two players landed in double-digit scoring highlighted by freshman Darius McClain and sophomore Lynden Paul each flushing 10 points. McClain was the only player to hit more than one three pointer and take more than six shots, while Paul buried his lone opportunity from distance in a role off the bench.

Riverside currently sits at 7-5 with games against Santiago Canyon and Ventura left in December play. From then on, it is all conference action.