Lethal Starting Five Hands Tigers Second-Straight Win

A tight first half set the stage for a tough showdown in the second day of the 49^th Annual Riverside Holiday Classic as the Tigers men's basketball team hosted the Cerritos College Falcons. RCC held a slim two-point advantage entering into the locker room, but a second-half shooting percentage of nearly 50 percent led them to the 75-62 win.

It was a close contest in the first half despite the momentum always leaning in the Tiger's favor. On the final possession of the first half, Riverside coughed the ball up leading to a emphatic Cerritos jam to close out the opening 20 minutes.

A heated halftime speech from Head Coach Phil Mathews undoubtedly adjusted the RCC play on the hardwood as Riverside came out on a 15-6 run that quickly put the Falcons in the rear view.

Riverside outplayed the Tigers in every aspect of the game. Despite a back and forth affair that saw five ties and eight lead changes, Riverside shot 52.8 percent from the floor which included nine three pointers. Additionally, they hauled in 33 rebounds to the Falcon's mere 25 and turned the ball over two times fewer.

The Tigers relied on the starting five to put up all of the Tigers points with the bench brigade only lofting up four total shots with none of them falling.

Leading the way was freshman big man Robert Ayala with 21 points. It was his first 20+ point showing since the season opener against Moorpark. He went 8-for-10 from the field which included a lone three pointer, thus proving he dominated in the paint. He tagged along seven rebounds as well.

Sophomore point guard Melvin Walker had his best game to date as seen in 19 points, three assists and three steals. He hit a season-high three triples leading at the point guard position.

After scoring a combined 10 points in the past two games, sophomore forward Amir Davis dropped 14 points which acts as his second-best offensive output of the season. He played all five positions on the court, dished out a team-high five assists, hauled in six rebounds and swiped three steals.

Riverside (6-4) will look to make it a clean tournament sweep as they face off against the East Los Angeles College Huskies (8-2) on Saturday, December 11 at 2 p.m. at home.