Mufaro Murinda scored 23 pts, including 4 three-pointers, three of which came during a pivotal 20-1 run by Chaffey as the host Panthers ran their record to 7-0 with an 80-67 win over Cypress in their home opener Wednesday night.
Chaffey (7-0) entered the season as the #2-ranked team in Southern California, and won the Cuesta and Fullerton tournaments the past two weekends. Meanwhile, Cypress (0-4) was still looking for its first win under first-year head coach Drew Alhadeff, formerly associate head coach at Irvine Valley.
For just over a half, the hot-shooting Chargers gave Chaffey all it could handle. Nolan Kelly hit 5 three-pointers and scored 19 points in the first half, as Cypress held a narrow 37-36 lead at the break. Then early in the second half, Cypress pushed its lead to 50-45 after a 3-pointer and an assist by Jeremy Wright.
But then came the 20-1 run, highlighted by a barrage of Chaffey 3-pointers. Breejae Flonnoy started the run with a three, followed by Murinda. Then Flonnoy hit another to give Chaffey a 54-50 lead. Then Murinda hit another to make it 57-50. A steal by Mateu Vilakazi led to a fast-break basket by Victor Joseph, off a pass by Flonnoy, to push the Panther lead to 59-50.
Cypress broke its scoreless drought when Brian Robbs split a pair of free throws, but then Murinda hit a step-back three to push Chaffeys lead to 65-51 and complete the devastating 20-1 run.
Cypress trailed by double digits until a steal & lay-up by Kelly with 1:45 left brought the Chargers within nine points at 74-65. But then Flonnoy made two free throws with 1:30 left, and reserve guard Brandon Shaw added another with 1:03 left. Then after a steal by Brandon Franklin, Flonnoy lobbed a pass to Shaw, who slammed it home, much to the delight of the Chaffey bench, to seal the win for the Panthers.
Murinda led Chaffey with 23 pts, which came on 7-for-10 from the floor. Flonnoy had a very strong game with 14 pts, 7 asts, 4 rebs and 2 steals. Joseph had 12 pts and 6 rebs, and Carl Robinson had 9 pts.
For Cypress, Kelly led all scorers with 25 pts, including the 5 threes, and he also had 5 rebs. Robbs had 11 pts off the bench and Wright had 10 pts, 4 rebs and 2 asts. Jordan Fleck had a huge overall game with 8 pts, 7 asts and a game-high 15 rebs.
The win runs Chaffeys record to 7-0, but that unbeaten status will be severely tested this Saturday when the Panthers host also-unbeaten Mt. San Antonio. Game time is 5 pm.
box score
Wednesday, November 19, 2014 7 pm
At the Chaffey College Sports Center, Rancho Cucamonga
Cypress Chargers 67:
2-Jeremy Wright, PG 4/10 fg, 1/2 ft, 4 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 4 pf, 10 pts
4-Isaiah Taylor, C 1/3 fg, 1 reb, 2 pf, 2 pts
5-Nolan Kelly, SF 8/16 fg, 4/5 ft, 5 reb, 1 stl, 3 pf, 25 pts
10-Jerred Cook, SG 2/4 fg, 1 reb, 4 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 4 pf, 5 pts
32-Jordan Fleck, PF 2/10 fg, 4/6 ft, 15 reb, 7 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 8 pts
3-Zachary Perez, G 1 reb, 1 ast, 0 pts
24-Austin Payne, F 3/3 fg, 5 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 3 pf, 6 pts
50-Manny Sterling, C 0/1 fg, 1 ast, 0 pts
45-Brian Robbs, F 3/5 fg, 5/6 ft, 1 reb, 1 stl, 1 pf, 11 pts
15-Sean Comer, G 0 pts
team rebounds: 1
Totals: 23/52 fg (.442), 14/19 ft (.737), 34 reb, 16 ast, 3 blk, 6 stl, 19 pf, 67 pts
3-pt fg (7): Kelly 5, Wright, Cook
Turnovers (18): Cook 3, Perez 3, Comer 3, Wright 2, Fleck 2, Payne 2, Kelly, team 2
Chaffey Panthers 80:
4-Breejae Flonnoy, PG 5/15 fg, 2/2 ft, 4 reb, 7 ast, 2 stl, 1 pf, 14 pts
12-Victor Joseph, SG 4/11 fg, 4/4 ft, 6 reb, 2 ast, 1 pf, 12 pts
24-Carl Robinson, PF 4/8 fg, 4 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 9 pts
25-Mufaro Murinda, SF 7/10 fg, 5/6 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 23 pts
32-Christopher Edward, C 3/6 fg, 1/2 ft, 5 reb, 1 stl, 3 pf, 7 pts
2-Brandon Franklin, G 3/5 fg, 3 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 3 pf, 7 pts
34-Tim Myles, C 0/1 fg, 1/2 ft, 2 reb, 1 ast, 2 pf, 1 pt
1-L.J. (James) Harris, F 0/3 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 0 pts
11-Marciano Rogers, G 1/2 fg, 1/1 ft, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 3 pts
30-Mateu Vilakazi, F 0/1 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 0 pts
35-Kalil Glover, C 0/1 fg, 1 reb, 1 stl, 0 pts
10-Brandon Shaw, G 1/1 fg, 2/4 ft, 4 pts
team rebounds: 4
Totals: 28/64 fg (.438), 16/21 ft (.762), 36 reb, 17 ast, 0 blk, 10 stl, 14 pf, 80 pts
3-pt fg (8): Murinda 4, Flonnoy 2, Robinson, Franklin
Technical Foul: Murinda
Turnovers (10): Edward 3, Joseph 2, Robinson 2, Flonnoy, Franklin, Myles
Halftime Score: Cypress 37, Chaffey 36
Updated Records: Chaffey (#2-South preseason) 7-0, Cypress 0-4
Cypress led 50-45 when Chaffey went on a 20-1 run that included 6 threes.
Chaffey led by at least 9 the rest of the way.
