Christopher Edward scored 18 pts and three of his teammates scored at least 14 points each as #11 Chaffey clinched second place in the Foothill Conference with a 75-64 win over visiting Desert Wednesday night in Rancho Cucamonga.
Edward had a huge game, making 8 of 10 shots on the offensive end but also blocking 4 shots, 3 in the first few minutes of the first half. That closed down the inside and Chaffey (19-10, 6-3) overcame an early 13-9 deficit and went on a 16-0 run to take control of the game.
Breejae Flonnoy punctuated the 16-0 run with a 3-pointer and a floater, and Victor Joseph added a free throw to finish the run and give Chaffey a 25-13 lead with 5:48 left in the first half.
Desert (12-13, 4-5) cut the margin to single digits when Anthony Kellum made a three-point field goal to make it 27-18. But then Edward converted a traditional three-point play and Joseph scored on a lay-up after spinning through the lane to push Chaffey's lead back to double digits at 32-18.
Carl Robinson hit one of his game-high four 3-pointers at the end of the shot clock near the two-minute mark to push Chaffey's lead to 15, and hit a long 3-pointer in the final seconds of the half to give the Panthers a 40-22 lead at the half.
Will Becnel hit a short jumper for Desert to start the half. But Flonnoy and Robinson answered with back-to-back 3-pointers to push Chaffey's lead to 22 points at 46-24 about three minutes into the second half.
Desert got one of its few lucky bounces when Kellum tried a pass that deflected off the rim and right back to him; he laid the ball in the basket, was fouled and made the free throw with 8:33 left to cut the Chaffey lead to 12. Then Pellum scored on a putback to get the Roadrunners within 10 at 54-44 with 7:27 to go.
But Mufaro Murinda, who was hobbled by foul trouble all night, made a three-pointer to stop Desert's momentum, and the Roadrunners never got any closer. It was 61-51 when Edward made two free throws, Joseph made one of two and Mateu Vilakazi scored on a driving lay-up to push Chaffey's lead back to 15 points at 66-51 and all but clinch the win.
Edward tied for team-high for Chaffey with his 18 pts and 8 rebs, and his 4 blocks were game-high. Joseph also had 18 pts and added 5 rebs and 5 asts. Robinson had 14 pts, 6 rebs, 4 asts and 3 steals. And the 5-6 Flonnoy not only scored 14 pts but tied Edward for game-high with 8 rebs. Overall Chaffey outrebounded Desert 41-24 for the game.
For Desert, Pellum scored a game-high 19 pts. Mark Johnson had a very strong game with 16 pts, 7 rebs, 3 asts, 3 blocks and 3 steals. Kevin Smith had 13 pts and 5 rebs, and Kellum had 7 pts and a team-high 5 asts.
The win all but clinches a playoff berth for Chaffey, with an outside possibility of a top-8 seed and a home game.
For Desert, the loss drops the Roadrunners' record below .500 in both conference games and overall, with just one game left, dealing a devastating blow to COD's playoff chances.
box score
Wednesday, February 18, 2015 - 7 pm
at the Chaffey Sports Center, Rancho Cucamonga
Foothill Conference
Desert Roadrunners 64:
3-Anthony Kellum, SF - 2/8 fg, 2/3 ft, 3 reb, 5 ast, 7 pts
5-Jordan Pellum, SG - 7/22 fg, 3/3 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 4 pf, 19 pts
10-Will Becnel, PG - 2/5 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 5 pts
20-Mark Johnson, C - 5/9 fg, 6/6 ft, 7 reb, 3 ast, 3 blk, 3 stl, 4 pf, 16 pts
24-Kevin Smith, PF - 5/12 fg, 2/2 ft, 5 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 4 pf, 13 pts
2-Juwan Demmings, G - 0/1 fg, 1 ast, 2 pf, 0 pts
4-Xiever Brown, F - 2/4 fg, 3 reb, 1 stl, 1 pf, 4 pts
1-Erik McClay, G - 0/1 fg, 3 ast, 1 pf, 0 pts
15-Carlos Martinez, G - 0/2 fg, 0 pts
team rebounds: 2
Totals: 23/64 fg (.359), 13/14 ft (.929), 24 reb, 15 ast, 5 blk, 7 stl, 16 pf, 64 pts
3-pt fg (5): Pellum 2, Kellum, Becnel, Smith
Turnovers (10): Johnson 5, Becnel 2, Pellum, Smith, Demmings
Chaffey Panthers 75:
4-Breejae Flonnoy, PG - 6/13 fg, 8 reb, 3 ast, 1 pf, 14 pts
12-Victor Joseph, SG - 4/11 fg, 8/10 ft, 5 reb, 5 ast, 1 blk, 1 pf, 18 pts
24-Carl Robinson, SF - 5/8 fg, 6 reb, 4 ast, 3 stl, 2 pf, 14 pts
32-Christopher Edward, C - 8/10 fg, 2/3 ft, 8 reb, 4 blk, 2 stl, 3 pf, 18 pts
42-Tyler Warren, PF - 0/1 fg, 1 reb, 1 blk, 0 pts
25-Mufaro Murinda, F - 1/1 fg, 1 reb, 3 pf, 3 pts
30-Mateu Vilakazi, G - 2/6 fg, 4 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 4 pts
14-Donavan Taylor, F - 0/1 fg, 1/3 ft, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 1 pt
35-Kalil Glover, C - 1/1 fg, 2 pf, 2 pts
10-Brandon Shaw, G - 0 pts
22-Kenny Truesdale, G - 0/1 fg, 1/2 ft, 1 reb, 1 pt
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 27/53 fg (.509), 12/18 ft (.667), 41 reb, 14 ast, 6 blk, 6 stl, 13 pf, 75 pts
3-pt fg (9): Robinson 4, Flonnoy 2, Joseph 2, Murinda
Technical Foul: Edward
Turnovers (19): Joseph 6, Flonnoy 4, Vilakazi 3, Robinson 2, Edward, Warren, Murinda, Shaw
Halftime Score: Chaffey 40, Desert 22
Updated Records: Chaffey (#11-South) 19-10, 6-3 in conf; Desert 12-13, 4-5 in conf
Chaffey went on a 16-0 run to lead 25-13 and led by double digits the entire 2nd half.
