SF Joe Eberhard and PG Christian Mack each had 14 pts as #5 Irvine Valley remained undefeated with a 61-56 win over #15 Santa Monica Wednesday afternoon in the first round of the Roadrunner Round-Up at Rio Hondo College in Whittier.
In a defensive, turnover-filled game, Irvine Valley (10-0) went on a 10-1 run over a four-minute span in the second half, and defeated the Corsairs (5-3) for the second time this season.
IVC started the game with a 6-1 spurt, and led by 7 points at 18-11 midway through the first half. Santa Monica rallied, taking a 19-18 lead on a free throw by Ctr Bryant Crowder with 5:05 left in the half. Irvine Valley went back in front at halftime, 23-21, after a pair of free throws by Eberhard with 39.4 seconds left in the first half.
In the second half, Santa Monica took a 41-34 lead after a dunk by Crowder, and led 46-41 after three free throws by PG Charlie Oriel with 7:39 remaining.
But then came the 10-1 run by the Lasers. A 3-pt play by Eberhard made it 46-44, and a 3-pointer by Mack gave Irvine Valley the lead at 47-46 with 5:25 left. Then PF Travis Fulton scored on a feed from SF Sean Donovan to make it 49-46. Two free throws by Fulton - on 4 attempts - pushed the lead to 51-47 with 3:26 left. After a 3-pointer by SG Rodney Hudson got Santa Monica within a point at 51-50, IVC got two free throws from Mack and a hook shot by Ctr Max Carrier to push the lead to 55-50.
Santa Monica got a basket from Ctr DeShawn Stephens and a pair of free throws from Crowder to get within a point at 55-54 with 1:32 left, but never quite pulled even. A third-chance putback by Eberhard gave IVC a 57-54 lead with 54.8 seconds left. Then Mack made 4 free throws in the final 30.9 seconds left to seal the win.
Despite being the focus of the IVC defense, Crowder posted game-highs of 17 pts and 8 rebs for Santa Monica. Hudson finished with 10 pts and 5 asts.
box score
Wednesday, December 9, 2009 - 1 pm
Roadrunner Round-Up @ Rio Hondo College, Whittier
First Round
Santa Monica Corsairs 56:
5-Rodney Hudson, SG - 3/5 fg, 2/4 ft, 2 reb, 5 ast, 3 pf, 10 pts
23-DeShawn Stephens, C - 3/5 fg, 3/4 ft, 3 reb, 4 pf, 9 pts
24-Solomon Hainna, SF - 1/2 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 2 pts
32-Eric Bell, PG - 0/6 fg, 1/2 ft, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 2 pf, 1 pt
34-Tyrell Chandler, PF - 1/1 fg, 1/2 ft, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 2 pf, 3 pts
11-Bryant Crowder, C - 7/11 fg, 3/4 ft, 8 reb, 2 blk, 1 stl, 2 pf, 17 pts
12-Charlie Oriel, G - 0/3 fg, 5/5 ft, 1 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 5 pts
42-Matt Sinclair, F - 2/3 fg, 1/2 ft, 3 reb, 1 stl, 4 pf, 5 pts
15-Rue Critchfield, F - 1/2 fg, 1/2 ft, 2 pf, 4 pts
3-Justin Barnwell, G - 0/2 fg, 1 stl, 0 pts
33-Kris Mehdipour, F - 1 stl, 0 pts
21-Lonnie Biggs, F - 0/1 fg, 1 blk, 0 pts
10-Avery Martin, G - 0/1 fg, 1 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 7
Totals: 18/42 fg (.429), 17/25 ft (.680), 26 reb, 9 ast, 5 blk, 7 stl, 24 pf, 56 pts
3-pt fg (2): Hudson, Critchfield
Turnovers (27): Bell 7, Hudson 5, Sinclair 5, Barnwell 3, Hainna 2, Crowder 2, Oriel 2, Critchfield
Irvine Valley Lasers 61:
4-Max Carrier, C - 4/10 fg, 3 reb, 1 ast, 2 pf, 8 pts
5-Durrell Norman, SG - 1/3 fg, 2/2 ft, 1 ast, 1 pf, 4 pts
10-Travis Ballard, PG - 0/1 fg, 1 reb, 1 stl, 4 pf, 0 pts
24-Travis Fulton, PF - 3/6 fg, 2/4 ft, 2 reb, 3 ast, 2 blk, 1 stl, 3 pf, 8 pts
31-Joe Eberhard, SF - 3/11 fg, 8/9 ft, 7 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 14 pts
42-Ephraim Ekanem, C - 0/3 fg, 1/2 ft, 2 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl, 1 pt
3-Andrew Arnold, G - 2/2 fg, 1/2 ft, 3 stl, 2 pf, 6 pts
11-Christian Mack, G - 3/6 fg, 6/6 ft, 4 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 14 pts
22-Sean Donovan, F - 1/5 fg, 3 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl, 2 pf, 2 pts
23-Marcus Walters, G - 1/4 fg, 2 reb, 1 blk, 2 pf, 2 ptS
32-Isaac Stalzer, F - 1/2 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 2 pts
team rebounds: 9
Totals: 19/53 fg (.358), 20/25 ft (.800), 34 reb, 14 ast, 3 blk, 12 stl, 18 pf, 61 pts
3-pt fg (3): Mack 2, Arnold
Turnovers (23): Norman 6, Arnold 6, Eberhard 2, Mack 2, Ballard, Ekanem, Donovan, Walters, team 3
Halftime Score: Irvine Valley 23, Santa Monica 21
Updated Records: Irvine Valley (#5-South, #9-Calif) 10-0, Santa Monica (#15-South) 5-3
