Whether it was the relentless cacophony of Code Red, the relentless athleticism of Dwayne Benjamin or that Mt. San Jacinto finally stopped turning the ball over, or perhaps all of the above, the host Eagles rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit for the win Saturday evening over local rival Riverside.
Mt. San Jacinto (10-3) fell behind, 35-28, at the half, and saw PG Antonio Mayfield made a 3-pointer 30 seconds into the second half to take a 10-point lead. The Eagles turned the ball over 13 times in the first half, with standout SF Dwayne Benjamin contributing 4 of those miscues while missing 9 of his 11 first-half shot attempts.
But Code Red continued to make itself heard, seemingly raising its sound level in the second half as Riverside (6-11) watched its lead slip away. And Benjamin persevered, despite a rough shooting night and several hard fouls, including one in the game's final couple of minutes that seemingly fit the criteria for a flagrant foul.
Riverside held a 42-33 lead a few minutes into the second half, but then Mt. San Jacinto went on a 25-3 run that changed the game completely and saw the Eagles take control. And it was no coincidence that Mt. San Jacinto committed not a single turnover during the game-changing run.
SF Danny Hopkins gave Mt. San Jacinto its first lead of the second half with a 3-pointer that made it 45-44 midway through the second half. Then Ctr Levon Harper scored twice and PF Patric Bowens went coast-to-coast for a lay-up after a defensive rebound, was fouled and made the resulting free throw to make it 52-44 with 8:17 left.
Riverside cut the deficit to seven points at 52-45, but then Mt. San Jacinto scored 6 straight points to push the lead to double digits. Bowens scored on a slam dunk off a pass from PG Carlos McCormick with 6:50 left to make it 54-45. Then Benjamin made two free throws with 6:35 left after a steal, and scored on a driving lay-up with 6:05 remaining to make it 58-45.
Riverside cut the deficit to single digits one last time when PF Donald DJ Muepo threw down a dunk off a pass from SG Robert James to make it 58-49. But Benjamin made a pair of free throws and Harper scored on a putback for Mt. San Jacinto to push the lead back to 13 points at 62-49. Benjamin split two free throws with 4:03 left to make it 63-49, and the Eagles led by double digits the rest of the way.
All that followed a first half in which Riverside took advantage of the struggles by both Benjamin and SG Dujuan Smith to take a 7-point lead at the break. Mt. San Jacinto's two leading scorers, who entered the night averaging 36 points per game between them, combined to make just 4 of 18 shots in the first half.
And the Tigers took advantage, going on a 14-3 run late in the first half to take a 31-25 lead. PF Mark Ware converted a 3-point play for Mt. San Jacinto to cut into the lead a bit, but SF Jelani Mitchell answered with a 3-point play of his own, and then passed to James for a basket to push Riverside's lead to 35-28 at the half.
Riverside started the game with a 6-0 spurt, with Mayfield assisting on all 3 Tiger field goals. Benjamin made a 3-pointer to get Mt. San Jacinto on the board, but then James made a 3-pointer - with Mayfield tallying another assist - to make it 9-3.
Mt. San Jacinto rallied to take a 16-15 lead on a 3-point play by Benjamin, and led by as many as 5 points after a lay-up by Bowens following a blocked shot by PF Sam Williams made it 22-17. But then Riverside went on the 14-3 run, and led until Mt. San Jacinto's game-changing 25-3 run in the second half.
Benjamin led all scorers with his 19 pts, despite a horrific 4-for-23 shooting line from the field combined with a game-high 6 turnovers, though he filled the stat sheet as usual with 8 pts, 4 asts, 4 steals and 2 blocked shots. He also took advantage of his opportunities at the foul line in the second half, making 7 of 9 free throws after halftime and 10 of 15 overall. And he showed a lot of restraint not directly responding to several hard fouls, including a shot to the head in the final two minutes.
And several other Eagles stepped up with strong efforts, led by Bowens, who had a double-double with 12 pts and a game-high 12 rebs. Harper had a solid 11 pts on 5-for-7 from the floor, and Hopkins came off the bench for 9 pts on 3 three-pointers. And of course there was Code Red, the raucous rooting section that kept up a steady barrage of sound, seemingly increasing the volume as the second-half run continued. The Eagles seemed to recognized and appreciate Code Red's role in the win, going into the stands and celebrating amongst the red-shirts at the end of the game.
For Riverside, Muepo registered a double-double with team-highs of 16 pts and 10 rebs, while adding 2 steals and 2 blocked shots. Mayfield had a solid game as well with 14 pts and a game-high 6 asts. But the rest of the Tigers were just 10-for-36 from the floor for just 28 points, perhaps unable to focus well enough to shoot with Code Red's racket echoing through the gym.
box score
Saturday, January 4, 2014 - 7 pm
at Mt. San Jacinto College, San Jacinto
Riverside Tigers:
0-Jelani Mitchell, SF - 1/6 fg, 3/6 ft, 3 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 5 pts
2-Antonio Mayfield, PG - 3/6 fg, 6/6 ft, 2 reb, 6 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl, 3 pf, 14 pts
15-Taj Adams, C - 1/3 fg, 0/2 ft, 4 reb, 1 ast, 3 pf, 2 pts
25-Donald DJ Muepo, PF - 6/8 fg, 4/9 ft, 10 reb, 2 blk, 2 stl, 4 pf, 16 pts
30-Robert James, SG - 3/10 fg, 6 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 7 pts
21-Anthony Rounds, F - 0/2 fg, 2 reb, 3 pf, 0 pts
23-Raymond Nelson, G - 2/4 fg, 0/2 ft, 3 reb, 4 pts
13-Dallas Braden, F - 2/5 fg, 6 reb, 2 pf, 4 pts
4-Shawn Joseph, G - 0/2 ft, 0 pts
10-Kendall Schmidt, G - 1/4 fg, 2 reb, 1 stl, 2 pts
12-Chris Cook, F - 0/2 fg, 4/4 ft, 1 stl, 4 pts
5-Kendall Brown, G - 1 pf, 0 pts
1-Yosimar Bernardez, G - 0 pts
team rebounds: 3
Totals: 19/50 fg (.380), 17/31 ft (.548), 41 reb, 12 ast, 3 blk, 8 stl, 22 pf, 58 pts
3-pt fg (3): Mayfield 2, James
Turnovers (19): Mayfield 4, Mitchell 3, Muepo 3, Adams 2, James 2, Rounds 2, Schmidt 2, Nelson
Mt. San Jacinto Eagles 70:
1-Patrick Bowens, PF - 5/9 fg, 2/2 ft, 12 reb, 1 stl, 3 pf, 12 pts
24-Dwayne Benjamin, SF - 4/23 fg, 10/15 ft, 8 reb, 4 ast, 2 blk, 4 stl, 1 pf, 19 pts
25-Dujuan Smith, SG - 3/10 fg, 6 reb, 1 ast, 2 pf, 8 pts
30-Levon Harper, C - 5/7 fg, 1/4 ft, 3 reb, 2 blk, 3 pf, 11 pts
32-Blake O'Donnell, PG - 0/2 fg, 1 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl, 1 pf, 0 pts
44-Austin Klug, C - 1 reb, 0 pts
21-Carlos McCormick, G - 0/2 fg, 4/4 ft, 1 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 4 pf, 4 pts
33-Sam Williams, F - 2/3 fg, 3 reb, 3 ast, 2 blk, 1 stl, 5 pf, 4 pts
4-Danny Hopkins, F - 3/5 fg, 3 reb, 3 ast, 2 pf, 9 pts
34-Cameron Johnson, C - 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 0 pts
2-Mark Ware, F - 1/2 fg, 1/1 ft, 1 reb, 3 pf, 3 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 23/63 fg (.365), 18/26 ft (.692), 45 reb, 18 ast, 8 blk, 10 stl, 24 pf, 70 pts
3-pt fg (6): Hopkins 3, Smith 2, Benjamin
Fouled Out: Williams 6:18 left
Turnovers (16): Benjamin 6, Smith 3, Bowens 2, O'Donnell 2, Klug, Hopkins, Ware
Halftime Score: Riverside 35, Mt. San Jacinto 28
Updated Records: Mt. San Jacinto (#9-South, #18-Calif) 10-3, Riverside 6-11
Riverside went on a 14-3 run to lead 31-25, and led by 10 at 38-28 early in the 2nd half.
Mt. San Jacinto trailed, 42-33, but then went on a 25-3 run to take control of the game.
Mt. San Jacinto had 13 turnovers in the 1st half but none during the 25-3 second-half run.
