If City College of San Francisco was looking to make a statement to Southern California and the Central Valley, it can consider its mission accomplished as the Rams pounded perennial power Mt. San Antonio, 80-60, to win its 6th straight game to start the season and the championship of the Fresno City Classic Sunday afternoon.
San Francisco (6-0), ranked #1 in the North and #2 in the state in the CCCAA pre-season poll, slipped by Mt. SAC by just four points on its own floor opening weekend. And then there was a 3-point victory over unranked West Hills in the first round of the Fresno tourney. But then came a 10-point win over an underrated Santa Rosa team in the semifinal, followed by the drubbing of Mt. San Antonio (3-3), ranked #5 in the South and #9 in the state in the preseason poll.
CCSF held a modest 12-10 lead a few minutes into the game before taking control with an 18-1 run, pushing the lead to 30-12 with 7:27 left in the half. The lead was 17 at the half after Mt. SAC coach Clark Maloney was assessed a technical foul with 2.2 seconds left in the first half and Jerrod Nodar made both free throws. Then David Parsons hit a jumper off an inbounds pass from Trevor Dunbar to make it 44-27.
Mt. SAC chipped away at the lead in the second half, cutting the deficit to single digits when Sam Bide made a pair of free throws with 13:31 left to make it 49-40. The margin shrunkn to eight points after a 3-point play by LaMarquis Thompson with 13:04 left that made it 51-43.
But then Shon Briggs made two free throws for CCSF. And then Dunbar, eventually named the tournament MVP, turned in perhaps the most impressive play of the afternoon when he rebounded a missed Fresno free throw and sped through the defense and to the basket for a lay-up. He even drew a foul on the play, and the made free throw made it 56-43.
A three by Zachary Copeland pushed the CCSF lead to 60-45, and a three by Dunbar maade it 63-47. A basket by Keondre Dew with 7:18 left made it 69-51, fully restoring CCSF's 18-point lead, and the Rams led handily the rest of the way.
Jalen Canty led CCSF with 17 pts, and he also had 7 rebs, 2 asts, a block and a steal, earning a spot on the all-tournament team. Dunbar had 12 pts and game-highs of 8 asts and 4 steals to earn MVP honors. Briggs had 14 pts and 3 asts. Overall CCSF shot 54% and got 14 players into the game, 12 of which scored at least a point.
For Mt. San Antonio, Gregory Bennett had a very strong game with a team-high 17 pts and 8 rebs. Thompson had the game's only double-double with 13 pts, all in the second half, and a game-high 10 rebs.
box score
2015 Fresno City College Classic
Sunday, November 15th @ Fresno City College
Championship Game - 4 pm
Mt. San Antonio Mounties 60:
0-LaMarquis Thompson, PG - 5/7 fg, 3/4 ft, 10 reb, 1 ast, 4 pf, 13 pts
2-Darmarcus Carter, C - 0/3 fg, 2/2 ft, 5 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 5 pf, 2 pts
13-Gregory Bennett, SF - 5/14 fg, 7/8 ft, 8 reb, 2 stl, 3 pf, 17 pts
21-Jamaal Logan, SG - 1/6 fg, 0/1 ft, 4 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 3 pf, 3 pts
24-Ashton McLaurin, PF - 4/7 fg, 3/4 ft, 5 reb, 1 ast, 4 pf, 11 pts
3-Tyheem Harmon, G - 1/4 fg, 0/2 ft, 1 reb, 6 ast, 1 stl, 2 pts
5-Marquis Reed, F - 1/7 fg, 2 reb, 3 pf, 2 pts
20-Cristian Galindo, F - 1 pf, 0 pts
1-Sam Bide, F - 1/5 fg, 3/7 ft, 6 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 3 pf, 5 pts
32-Charlie Evans IV, G - 1/3 fg, 1/2 ft, 1 stl, 1 pf, 3 pts
12-Daniel Olivas, G - 0 pts
4-Jason Jamie, G - 1/4 fg, 1 ast, 1 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 4
Totals: 20/60 fg (.333), 19/30 ft (.633), 45 reb, 13 ast, 0 blk, 9 stl, 29 pf, 60 pts
3-pt fg (1): Logan
Technical Foul: Coach Maloney
Fouled Out: Carter 12:07 left
Turnovers (19): Thompson 4, McLaurin 3, Bennett 2, Harmon 2, Bide 2, Evans 2, Carter, Reed, Galindo, team
San Francisco Rams 80:
4-Shon Briggs, SF - 3/5 fg, 7/9 ft, 1 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 14 pts
15-Jason Smith, PG - 1/1 fg, 2/2 ft, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 4 pts
23-Jalen Canty, C - 6/10 fg, 5/5 ft, 7 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 3 pf, 17 pts
33-Jerrod Nodar, PF - 0/3 fg, 4/4 ft, 1 reb, 2 pf, 4 pts
34-Armani Hall, SG - 2/4 fg, 0/2 ft, 2 reb, 1 stl, 1 pf, 4 pts
11-Trevor Dunbar, G - 5/7 fg, 1/1 ft, 2 reb, 8 ast, 4 stl, 2 pf, 12 pts
20-Zachary Copeland, G - 1/2 fg, 2/2 ft, 1 reb, 1 pf, 5 pts
25-Kendall McIntosh, F - 0/2 fg, 0/2 ft, 2 reb, 1 ast, 2 pf, 0 pts
44-Keondre Dew, F - 3/8 fg, 1/3 ft, 2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 4 pf, 7 pts
55-Jashandeep Kahlon, C - 1 reb, 1 blk, 5 pf, 0 pts
3-Troy Thompson, F - 4/4 fg, 0/1 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 2 pf, 8 pts
24-David Parsons, G - 1/3 fg, 2 reb, 1 pf, 2 pts
21-LaDonovan Wilder, F - 1/1 fg, 1 pf, 2 pts
32-Justin Brown, G - 1/2 ft, 1 pt
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 27/50 fg (.540), 23/33 ft (.697), 30 reb, 18 ast, 3 blk, 9 stl, 25 pf, 80 pts
3-pt fg (Briggs, Dunbar, Copeland
Turnovers (19): Briggs 3, Canty 3, Dew 3, Hall 2, Copeland 2, Dunbar, McIntosh, Thompson, Parsons, Wilder, team
Halftime Score: San Francisco 44, Mt. San Antonio 27
Updated Records: San Francisco (#1-North, #2-Calif) 6-0, Mt. San Antonio (#5-South, #9-Calif) 3-3
CCSF led a modest 12-10 lead before going on an 18-2 run to lead 30-12 and take control.
Mt. SAC got within 8 at 51-43 with about 13 minutes left but got no closer.
Then CCSF went on an 18-8 run to restore the 18-point lead and led handily the rest of the way.
