MBB: Eagles 27 Win Season Comes to an End in Regional Final

The MSJC men's basketball team traveled to Fullerton College on Saturday night for a 3C2A Regional Final contest against the defending state champion Hornets and came out on the short end of a 92-69 game.

The Eagles fell behind early to the hot shooting Hornets, but seemed to find their footing about midway through the first half.  Darius Mason had an offensive rebound and put back with 9:03 to play in the first that cut the Fullerton lead to 31-27, but that was as close as the Eagles would get.  The Hornets answered with a 18-1 run late in the half to build their lead to 56-34 at the break.  MSJC continued to play hard in the final 20 minutes despite struggling to make shots all night.  The Eagles, who came into the game as the second highest scoring team in the state, shot just 35% from the field, 21% from three point range, and 56% from the foul line in the contest.  In contrast Fullerton shot 60% from the floor and 50% from beyond the arc.  The Hornets now move on the State Elite Eight Tournament.

BJ Brown led the Eagles in scoring on the night with 16 points, Isiah Shirley added 15.  Dasean Stevens and Isaiah Skinner also reached double figures in the game with 14 and 10 respectively.

The loss ends a very successful season that saw the Eagles post a 27-4 overall record. MSJC finished second in the Inland Empire Athletic Conference.  

This highly talented group of sophomores also earned some honors along the way as Stevens and Skinner were named First Team All-IEAC, while Brown and Isiah Shirley earned Second Team honors.  Elijah Shirley and Jackson Bernardo both were named Honorable Mention All IEAC.