M. Basketball Goes 1-1 at Cuyamaca Classic

The MSJC men's basketball team won big on Friday night against Imperial Valley, but ran into a hot shooting LA Valley team on Saturday as they split a pair of games at the Cuyamaca Classic in El Cajon.

Friday's game was a bit rugged at the start as both MSJC and Imperial struggled with turnovers early.  Once the Eagles found their stride however they overwhelmed the Arabs on their way to an 87-42 win.  The Eagles built the lead to 12 by halftime and then outscored IVC 52-19 in the second half.  Brandon Fredrick came off the bench to lead all scorers in the game with 16 while Jamaal Barnes added 13.  In all MSJC received 61 points from non-starters in the contest and got at least 2 points from 13 different players.  The Eagles separated themselves in the rebounding column as well grabbing 47 boards on the night compared to just 22 by the Arabs.  Chidi Okwarabizie had a game high 12 rebounds in the win.

On Saturday afternoon the Eagles got off to a fast start against LA Valley as they jumped out to a 17-7 lead, but the Monarchs rallied back to take the lead before halftime at 41-35.  In the second half LA Valley would shoot an impressive 17 for 25 from the field to hold off MSJC and win the game 90-73.  Fredrick and Barnes both again led the Eagles in scoring as they each had 14 points, Barnes also grabbed a team best 8 rebounds for MSJC.  Despite shooting a respectable 14 of 36 from three point range the Eagles could not slow the Monarchs offense who started the second half connecting of 12 of it's first 16 field goal attempts.

The Eagles are now 3-2 on the season and continue with their very challenging early season schedule on Wednesday night when they host #13 ranked San Diego City at 7 pm.  MSJC will hit the road on Saturday as they travel to the state's #3 ranked team Fullerton College for a 5 pm contest.