PG Delon Wright was at his sensational best Saturday evening as he led City College of San Francisco to its second win in two weekends over #1-ranked and defending state champion Fresno in the championship game of the 8th Annual Fresno City College tournament.
Wright, the 2011-12 JCHoops.com Northern California Player of the Year and a recent signee with the Pac-12’s University of Utah, finished with the statistical line of 26 pts, 9 rebs, 6 asts, 3 blocks and 4 steals to lead CCSF to its 6th straight win to start the 2012-13 season.
CCSF went on a 17-5 run to turn a narrow 2-point advantage into a 14-point lead late in the first half, highlighted by a steal & slam dunk by Wright that gave CCSF its largest lead of the game to that point at 29-21. PF Shawn Smith made a 3-pointer to stretch the lead to 36-24, and back-up Ctr Bryan McGriff finished the run with a steal & lay-up that made it 38-24 with 2:15 left in the first half.
Fresno (4-2, with both losses coming to CCSF) battled back, and cut the halftime deficit to ten points. And even after Wright hit a 3-pointer in the opening seconds of the second half to push the advantage back to 13 points at 41-28, Fresno cut into the deficit with a 7-0 spurt to cut the margin back to six points at 41-35. Fresno eventually got within three points at 46-43 after a 3-point play by Ctr Junior Morgan with 14:43 left in the game.
But then CCSF pulled away again. A 3-pointer by Ctr Gabriel Aguirre made it 57-48. Smith scored off a pass from PG Dulani Robinson to make it 61-50 with 7:20 left. Wright threw an outlet pass to SF Chuks Iroegbu, who converted a 3-point play with 7:08 left to make it 64-50. A basket by Wright after a steal made it 66-50 with 6:09 left. And two free throws by McGriff pushed the margin to 18 points at 70-52 with 4:51 remaining.
Fresno put together one last rally with consecutive 3-pointers by PG Alex Perez and SF Udun Osakue that made it 70-58. A 3-pointer by SG Erwin Thomas Hammock after a steal by Morgan near midcourt made it an 8-point game at 76-68 with 1:10 left and gave the Fresno faithful some hope for a miracle comeback.
But moments later Morgan tried for another steal but was called for a foul, and Fresno SG Thomas Jordan was assessed a technical foul for editorializing about the quality of the call. Wright made the two technical free throws, and Smith split the two free throws on the personal foul. On the second shot, Perez was called for a loose ball foul and SF Jamal Ford made two more free throws to make it 81-68 and clinch the win for San Francisco.
Wright, the younger brother of current Philadelphia 76er Dorrell Wright, led all scorers with his 26 points. Smith had 17 pts and 8 rebs. Iroegbu just missed a double-double with 9 pts and 9 rebs. SG Quincy Smith chipped in with 9 pts plus 4 rebs, 3 asts and a steal.
For Fresno, Perez had a marvelous individual game with 19 pts, including 3 threes, on 5-for-9 from the floor while adding 4 rebs, a game-high 8 asts, 2 blocks and 2 steals. Jordan had 11 pts, including 3 threes, and 3 asts. SF Olajuwon Garner came off the bench and also scored 11 pts with 3 threes. Osakue added 9 pts and 4 asts.
Box score
8th Annual Fresno City College Tournament
Sunday, November 18, 2012 @ Fresno City College
Championship Game – 5 pm
Fresno Rams 73:
1-Alex Perez, PG – 5/9 fg, 6/7 ft, 5 reb, 8 ast, 2 blk, 2 stl, 3 pf, 19 pts
2-Thomas Jordan, SG – 4/8 fg, 3 ast, 2 stl, 3 pf, 11 pts
15-Chris Ashanti, SF – 2/7 fg, 0/1 ft, 4 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 4 pts
20-Udun Osakue, PF – 4/11 fg, 1 reb, 4 ast, 1 pf, 9 pts
34-Daniel Johnson, C – 2/2 fg, 1 reb, 1 stl, 1 pf, 4 pts
4-Olajuwon Garner, F – 4/11 fg, 1 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl, 2 pf, 11 pts
22-Chris Sterling, F – 0/1 fg, 4/4 ft, 2 reb, 1 pf, 4 pts
35-Junior Morgan, C – 2/2 fg, 3/6 ft, 3 reb, 1 blk, 2 stl, 3 pf, 7 pts
3-Erwin Thomas Hammock, G – 1/3 fg, 1/2 ft, 1 reb, 2 pf, 4 pts
10-Colton Haley, G – 0/4 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 5 pf, 0 pts
33-Paris Davis, F – 0/1 fg, 0 pts
14-Rich Tesmer, G – 1 ast, 1 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 9
Totals: 24/59 fg (.407), 14/20 ft (.700), 28 reb, 18 ast, 4 blk, 9 stl, 24 pf, 73 pts
3-pt fg (11): Perez 3, Jordan 3, Garner 3, Osakue, Hammock
Technical Fouls: Jordan, Hammock, Coach Madec
Fouled Out: Haley 27.9 seconds left
Turnovers (13): Garner 3, Perez 2, Jordan 2, Haley 2, Ashanti, Osakue, Sterling, Morgan
San Francisco Rams 82:
4-Chuks Iroegbu, SF – 3/10 fg, 3/3 ft, 9 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 9 pts
11-Quincy Smith, SG – 3/7 fg, 3/6 ft, 4 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 4 pf, 9 pts
24-Shawn Smith, PF – 6/11 fg, 4/6 ft, 8 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 3 pf, 17 pts
44-Gabriel Aguirre, C – 2/2 fg, 4 reb, 4 pf, 5 pts
55-Delon Wright, PG – 8/15 fg, 9/10 ft, 9 reb, 6 ast, 3 blk, 4 stl, 1 pf, 26 pts
3-Dulani Robinson, G – 1/9 fg, 5 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 3 pts
23-Kanu Aja, C – 1/1 fg, 1 blk, 2 pts
20-Joe Slocum, F – 0/2 fg, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 0 pts
21-Jamal Ford, F – 2/5 fg, 2/2 ft, 3 reb, 2 ast, 2 pf, 7 pts
33-Bryan McGriff, C – 1/2 fg, 2/2 ft, 2 reb, 1 tsl, 2 pf, 4 pts
5-Lawrence Otis, G – 0 pts
25-Namuji Madoshi, F – 0 pts
54-John Hegwood, F – 0 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 27/64 fg (.422), 23/29 ft (.793), 5 blk, 8 stl, 24 pf, 82 pts
3-pt fg (5): S.Smith, Aguirre, Wright, Robinson, Ford
Flagrant Foul: Ford
Technical Foul: S.Smith
Turnovers (15): Robinson 4, Wright 3, Iroegbu 2, Q.Smith 2, S.Smith 2, Ford 2
Halftime Score: San Francisco 38, Fresno 28
Updated Records: San Francisco (preseason rank: #5-North, #8-Calif) 6-0, Fresno (preseason rank: #1-North, #1-Calif) 4-2 (both losses to CCSF)
CCSF went on a 17-5 run to open a 14-point lead at 38-24 late in the 1st half.
Fresno got within 3 at 46-43 midway through the 2nd half.
CCSF pulled away again, opening a 70-52 lead with 4:51 left and was never threatened after that.
