#14 Mt. San Antonio continued its rampage through California with its 6th straight win to start the season, a 75-59 win over defending state champion Santa Rosa to capture the championship of the Fresno City College tournament.
Despite the seemingly pedestrian rank, the Mounties (6-0) have impressed all onlookers in capturing first the San Francisco tournament and now the Fresno tournament in the first two weeks of the season. Among the list of the conquered are perennial powers Fresno and San Francisco, and now Santa Rosa - twice.
Sunday, Mt. SAC led wire to wire, jumping out to an 8-0 lead and pushing the margin to double digits when a 3-pointer by Samuel Holmes made it 16-6. The Mounties' lead reached as many as 14 points after a driving lay-up by Malcom Whittington made it 36-22 with about 3 minutes left in the first half.
Santa Rosa (3-3) cut the deficit to seven points to trail, 40-33, at the half. Mike Simanek hit a 3-pointer and Jacob Wilson scored on a putback in the final minute before the halftime buzzer.
In the second half, Mt. SAC quickly pushed its lead back to double figures, starting the half with a 12-2 run. A 3-pointer by Holmes made it 52-35 about 5 minutes into the second half. The lead reached 19 points when LaMarquis Thompson drained a three to make it 62-43 with 11:06 to go.
Santa Rosa battled back again, cutting the deficit to seven points again after a pair of free throws by Markel Leonard with 6:44 left. But that was as close as the Bear Cubs would get. Hamilton hit a jumper to push Mt. SAC's lead back to double digits at 68-57 with about 4 minutes left. A 3-pointer by Hamilton and a dunk by Shannon Fowler made it 73-59 and clinched the win for the Mounties.
Hamilton finished with 15 pts, 9 rebs, 4 asts, 2 steals and a blocked shot and earned tourney MVP honors for his weekend's body of work that included a total of 46 points scored. Stephaun Branch scored a game-high 18 pts and grabbed 8 rebs vs. Santa Rosa. Fowler had a Joakim Noah-like line of 6 pts, 9 rebs and 6 asts, and joined Hamilton on the all-tournament team. Overall Mt. SAC shot 50% from the floor and had just 11 turnovers, the final 2 on shot clock violations in the final minute-plus that were taken intentionally to run out the clock.
For Santa Rosa, Leonard had 11 pts and 3 asts, and Davone Oliver had 11 pts, including 3 threes, plus 4 rebs and 2 asts. Jujuan Hammond came off the bench for 12 pts. Arnold Silva had 7 pts and a team-high 5 rebs, and was chosen for the all-tournament team.
box score
10th Annual Fresno City College Tournament
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Championship Game 5 pm
Santa Rosa Bear Cubs 59:
11-Davone Oliver, SG 4/11 fg, 0/1 ft, 4 reb, 2 ast, 11 pts
15-Markel Leonard, PG 3/8 fg, 5/5 ft, 2 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 11 pts
22-Jacob Wilson, SF 2/9 fg, 4 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl, 3 pf, 5 pts
31-Mike Simanek, PF 2/7 fg, 4 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 6 pts
43-Arnold Silva, C 2/3 fg, 3/3 ft, 5 reb, 1 ast, 2 pf, 7 pts
21-Markel Thompson, G 1/3 fg, 1 ast, 3 pts
10-Jujuan Hammond, G 2/7 fg, 7/8 ft, 12 pts
32-Siaan Rojas, F 1/2 fg, 3 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 2 pf, 2 pts
33-Jordan Hickman, C 1/4 fg, 1 ast, 1 pf, 2 pts
25-Danial Cresta, C 0 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 18/54 fg (.333), 15/17 ft (.882), 27 reb, 11 ast, 3 blk, 2 stl, 8 pf, 59 pts
3-pt fg (8): Oliver 3, Simanek 2, Wilson, Thompson, Hammond
Turnovers (9): Leonard 3, Wilson, Simanek, Silva, Hammond, Rojas, Hickman
Mt. San Antonio Mounties 75:
4-Blake Hamilton, PF 6/10 fg, 2/2 ft, 9 reb, 4 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl, 3 pf, 15 pts
12-Ryon OQuinn, PG 3/7 fg, 2 reb, 7 ast, 2 stl, 7 pts
23-Shannon Fowler, C 3/7 fg, 9 reb, 6 ast, 1 blk, 1 pf, 6 pts
24-Samuel Holmes, SG 3/7 fg, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 8 pts
32-Stephaun Branch, SF 7/11 fg, 4/4 ft, 8 reb, 2 ast, 2 pf, 18 pts
20-Malcom Whittington, G 2/5 fg, 1 reb, 1 stl, 4 pts
42-Adriel McGee, F 3/6 fg, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 6 pts
50-Thomas Cowen, C 1 reb, 3 pf, 0 pts
3-Mike Peters, G 1/3 fg, 2 reb, 3 ast, 3 pts
33-LaMarquis Thompson, G 3/6 fg, 2 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 1 pf, 8 pts
22-Sam Bide, G 1 reb, 1 ast, 0 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 31/62 fg (.500), 6/6 ft (1.000), 42 reb, 27 ast, 3 blk, 8 stl, 13 pf, 75 pts
3-pt fg (7): Holmes 2, Thompson 2, Hamilton, OQuinn, Peters
Turnovers (11): Hamilton 4, OQuinn, Branch, Cowen, Thompson, team 3
Halftime Score: Mt. San Antonio 40, Santa Rosa 33
Updated Records: Mt. San Antonio (#14-S preseason) 6-0, Santa Rosa (#6-N preseason) 3-3
Mt. SAC led wire to wire and by 19 at 62-43 with 11:06 left.
Santa Rosa got within 7 at 64-57 with 6:44 left but then Mt. SAC pulled away.
Hamilton (MVP) and Fowler from Mt. SAC, and Silva from SRJC were named to the All-Tournament team.
