MSJC Men Win, Springer Earns 400th Career Victory

The MSJC men's basketball team rallied in the second half on Saturday to defeat visiting Riverside City College 55-48 giving Head Coach Patrick Springer his 400th career victory.

The Eagles struggled in the first half as they only had 22 shot attempts and 10 turnovers as they fell behind the Tigers 31-22 at the break.  In the second half it was the MSJC defense that set the tone as they out scored Riverside 33-17 holding the Tigers to just 6 second half field goals.  MSJC tied the game up at 44 with 2:38 remaining on a dunk by Jamaal Barnes, Lenzell Simmons followed with a lay-up 30 seconds later that gave the Eagles their first lead of the second half.  MSJC finally went ahead for good on a three pointer by Kamien Cederlind that gave them a 49-46 advantage with 1:11 to play in the contest. From there the Tigers could not get the lead back under 3 and four made free throws down the stretch, two each by Cederlind and Mekhi Hill put the game away for MSJC.

Simmons ended the day with a game high 15 points, Hill finished with 9, and Cederlind had 8 in the victory.  The win snapped a 7 game losing streak for the Eagles and avenged a loss to the Tigers a week ago at Riverside.  MSJC is now 4-8 on the season and will begin Inland Empire Athletic Conference play on Wednesday at home when they host Copper Mountain at 7 pm.

The victory also marked Eagle Coach Patrick Springer's 400th as a head coach.  Springer is in his 16th season in charge of the MSJC program an is in his 20th overall season as a head coach, he spent three seasons at College of the Desert and one at City College of San Francisco.  330 of Springer's wins have come here at MSJC, during that span the Eagles have an overall record of 330-148, his all-time record improves to 400-209.  Springer's team's have had 13, 20 win seasons and have reached the CCCAA play-offs in 18 of his first 19 seasons.