No. 19 Men's Basketball Battles Back to Defeat Riverside

Cypress, CA – The No. 19 Cypress College men's basketball team (16-4, 3-1) overcame cold-shooting early in the game to pull off a hard-earned 69-58 victory at home against Riverside (9-11, 1-3) on Friday night.

Austin Payne led the team with 21 points on 5-of-10 shooting while Jeremy Wright added 17 points with three assists and four steals. Brian Robbs had a perfect shooting night, going one for one from the field and making all seven of his free throws for nine points total.

The Chargers failed to register a field goal in the opening four minutes of the game as the Tigers took an early 10-3 lead. O' Shae Williams was a sparkplug off the bench, making 3-of-3 FG. However, the rest of the team couldn't find a basket, going 0-of-12 from the field.

With 8:13 remaining in the half the Chargers trailed 17-12 before Austin Payne made his first FG, bringing Cypress within three. More than a minute later, Brian Robbs scored on a nifty post move and was fouled for the three-point play to tie the game at 17 apiece. The Chargers finally got going on offense, ending the half on an 18-9 run to take a 35-26 into the break.

The Chargers continued where they left off in the second half as they continued to extend their lead. Riverside began to chip away at the Chargers' comfortable lead with a 13-5 run, capitalizing on five Chargers turnovers. With 4:32 remaining, Wright stopped the bleeding by knocking down a contested jumper followed by a layup from Payne. Riverside went on a quick 7-0 run within the final three minutes, but it was too late for the Tigers.

Cypress will return to action on Friday, January 22 at 5:00 pm when they host the Santa Ana Dons.

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