Men’s Basketball Defeats Santa Monica, Advances to the CCCAA State Championships

For the first time since 2009, the Riverside City College men's basketball team is heading to the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) State Championship tournament.

Head Coach Philip Matthews has found the winning recipe for his squad. The Hall of Fame coach has helmed his team to five-consecutive wins that includes hauling in an Orange Empire Conference (OEC) title and reaching the big dance. Throughout those five wins, he has defeated a four top-ranked teams in the state and earned two playoff wins by nine or more points.

The Tigers earned sweet revenge by defeating the Santa Monica College Corsairs in Round Three of the CCCAA Southern Regional Championships by the final score of 77-68. It was a rematch of last year's round three showdown and Riverside prevailed behind a strong shooting night from the floor and limiting the damage from Santa Monica's core weapons.

Riverside held Santa Monica to a 31.9 percent mark from the hardwood while producing a 40 percent shooting mark of their won. The Tigers slightly outrebounds the Corsairs, 41-37. Furthermore, the Tigers allowed only one Santa Monica player to reach double-digit scoring.

First half grit set the tone as the Tigers came out of the gates swinging. They quickly snagged the lead and did not forfeit it leading to a 10-point advantage at halftime. In the second half, Santa Monica trimmed the lead and stayed within striking distance. Riverside surrendered the lead once throughout the entire game which came just before the eight-minute mark in the second half. However, Riverside stayed true to a lethal approach at saw four Tigers land in double-digit scoring.

Freshman guard Keylin Vance, who has started the past four games, produced one of his strongest showings of the season by tallying 22 points. He flushed a trio of three pointers to go along with four rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal. It is the fifth time in the last six games he has finished in double-digit scoring.

Freshman forward Amir Davis continued to prove why he is one of the most consistent and unique weapons in the state. The crafty left hander nearly played the entire game as he was only granted three minutes throughout the entire game to catch his breath. He flirted with a double-double after finishing with 16 point and nine rebounds. He chipped in four assists as well.

Freshman point guard Melvin Walker played a game-high 38 minutes and dropped 11 point, hauled in five rebound and dished out three assists. Sophomore center Justin Motely was crucial after scoring 13 points and hauling in nine rebounds. Seven of his points came from the charity stripe where he went 7-for-10.

Riverside (21-9, 14-2 OEC, 3-0 Playoffs) has earned the South's fourth seed and will face off against top-seeded City College of San Francisco (30-0) on Friday, March 13 at 3 p.m. at West Hills College Lemoore in Lemoore, CA.

All information for the tournament can be found here.