Eagle Men Earn 20th Win of the Season

Kyle Render scored 26 points Saturday to help the Eagle men's basketball team to a 102-71 win over College of the Desert.  (Jerry Lee Palad-MSJC)
Kyle Render scored 26 points Saturday to help the Eagle men's basketball team to a 102-71 win over College of the Desert. (Jerry Lee Palad-MSJC)

The MSJC men's basketball team won their 20th game of the season on Saturday afternoon as they led from start to finish in a 102-71 win over College of the Desert.

The Eagles built a 14 point lead by halftime and slowly pulled away in the final 20 minutes as they secured a second place finish in the Inland Empire Athletic Conference at home.  MSJC built the halftime lead by shooting over 51% from the field in the opening half and out rebounding the Roadrunners 23-16.  When the game was over the rebounding edge shrunk some, but MSJC ended the day just under 49% from the field compared to just 33% shooting by COD.

Five Eagles scored in double figures led by 26 points off the bench from Kyle Render.  Render had an incredible day from the field as he went 10 of 11 overall and 4 of 5 from three point range.  Cameron Durr and Dasean Stevens both flirted with triple doubles as Durr finished with 22 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists.  Stevens added 14 points, 9 boards, and 8 assists.  BJ Brown and Alex Miller also reached double figures in scoring with 17 and 14 points.

The win clinched second place in the IEAC for the Eagles who are now 20-5 overall and 12-2 in league play.  MSJC has two regular season games remaining as they travel to Chaffey on Wednesday and then host Barstow for Sophomore Night on Friday.  Both remaining games are set to tip-off at 7 pm following an Eagle women's game.