Men's Basketball upends Bakersfield College and defending state champ Fullerton College
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Moorpark (4-2) | 37 | 30 | 67 |
|
Bakersfield (1-3) | 31 | 34 | 65 |
The #11 Men's Basketball team traveled to Bakersfield and then turned around and hosted defending state champ Fullerton last week and came away with two wins, 67-65 and 78-76, repectively.
Coming off a 2nd place finish at the Alvin Hunter Tournament, the Raiders traveled to Bakersfield and as expected they came out sluggish. The Renegades to a 8-6 lead as both teams tested each other out. With the road lag wearing off the Raiders went on a 14-2 run to take control of the game, 23-10, 8 minutes 1st half. Both teams exchanged baskets the rest of the half but Bakersfield was able to cut into the Raider lead to 6. 37-31 MC at the half.
In the second half, the Raiders were able to keep the Renegades at bay holding on to leads of 8 and 6 points. However, with 5:20 remaining, BC chipped away at the lead and to cut it to 2 points and tying the game in the final 10 seconds, but the Raider's Jack Benyshek drained two free-throws with 5.2 secs left.
Benyshek led all scorers with 28 points, Kenji Cooper added 17 points, Jamaal Unuakalu had 9 points and 8 rebounds, Avi Halpert had 7 assists.
Playing their second game of the week, it was visiting Fullerton controlling the game from the onset. The Hornets took the opening tip-off and led the whole first half but the Raiders didn't falter and kept the Hornets close with the visitors taking a 39-36 halftime lead.
The second half action mirrored the the first half as Fullerton's lead stretched to 6 points with 14:41 left. At the 12:33 mark, the Raiders chipped away at the lead with Avi Halpert draining a 3 with 10:55 left. Slowly the Raiders took control of the game taking a 8 point lead with 7:14 left. From there, the Raiders never looked back.
Avi Halpert led all scorers with 35 points and 8 assists. Jamaal Unuakalu had another double-double, 12 points and 10 rebounds. Jack Benyshek added 14 points and Jordan Torres had 10 points off the bench.
With the wins, the #14 Raiders move to 5-2 on the year and next host LA City, Wednesday, 11/22