MBB: Fifth Ranked Eagles Fall at #14 Chaffey

The MSJC men lost a battle of ranked teams on Saturday at Chaffey 97-74.  (Elijah McKnight-MSJC)
The MSJC men lost a battle of ranked teams on Saturday at Chaffey 97-74. (Elijah McKnight-MSJC)

The MSJC men's basketball team lost for just the second time this season as they went on the road and lost an Inland Empire Athletic Conference contest at Chaffey 97-74.

In a battle of the top two scoring teams in the state Saturday in Rancho Cucamonga it was Chaffey who shot the ball well in their own gym as they built a 10 point halftime lead and slowly pulled away during the second half to secure the victory.  The Panthers came into the game averaging just over 100 points per game while the Eagles average over 93, but MSJC couldn't find their rhythm from long range to make a comeback.  MSJC is averaging over 9 made three's a game, but Saturday made just 1 of 20 in the loss.

Dasean Stevens scored a team high 18 points and pulled in 10 rebounds for a double double.  Isaiah Skinner added 17 points and 4 blocked shots and BJ Brown also reached double figures in scoring with 10.

The loss drops the Eagles two game behind Chaffey in the IEAC standings, MSJC is now 5-2 in league and 17-2 overall while the Panthers improved to 7-0 and 17-2.  MSJC will be at home twice this week as they take on Barstow Wednesday night at 7 pm and Cerro Coso Saturday at 3.  Both games this week will be proceeded by an MSJC women's game two hours earlier.