The MSJC men's basketball team came charging out of the gates Wednesday night in Blythe as they built a 51-24 lead over Palo Verde by halftime on their way to an 82-66 Inland Empire Athletic Conference road win.

The defense set the tone for the Eagles in the first 20 minutes as they forced Palo Verde into 21 first half turnovers resulting in multiple uncontested lay-ups for MSJC.  The Pirates settled down in the second half and made a couple of runs at the Eagles, cutting the lead to as little as 7 midway through the period, but MSJC responded and quickly pushed the lead back into double digits the rest of the way.

Cameron Durr had a season high 18 points off the bench to lead the Eagle offense as he connected on 8 of 14 field goal attempts.  Danilo Da Silva added 14 points while Isaiah Skinner and Anton Mozga both scored 11.  Mekhi Hill was part of the big start for the Eagles as he scored 8 of his 10 points in the game during the first half.  Skinner also pulled in a team high 9 rebounds.  The MSJC defense ended up making a season high 17 steals in the game led by Da Silva who had 5, both Durr and Skinner had 4 a piece.  Da Silva also ended his well rounded night with a team high 5 assists, while Mozga, Ethan Bell, and Durr all had 3.

The win pushed the Eagles record to 3-1 in IEAC play and 8-7 overall while Palo Verde fell to 8-9 overall and 1-4 in league play.  MSJC will host first place San Bernardino Valley on Saturday at 3 pm, the Wolverines will come into the contest 3-0 in IEAC action.  

No fans will be allowed for Saturday's contest, however the game will be live streamed on the msjc athletics Instagram account.