Chaffey gets key IEAC win against Mt. San Jacinto

RANCHO CUCAMONGA >> For much of the first half Saturday, the Mt. San Jacinto College men’s basketball team was able to keep Chaffey College within reach in a key Inland Empire Athletic Conference contest that pitted two of the state’s Top 14-ranked teams.

That changed, however, during the last six minutes of the half, as brothers Shadale and Shaden Knight combined to hit five 3-pointers.

The perimeter outburst from the Knight siblings took what was a one-possession game and pushed Chaffey’s lead to double figures by halftime. MSJC made a run midway through the second half before Chaffey surged to a 97-74 victory.

“I think the biggest thing is defending home court, and we’ve done that against MSJC and SBVC, but we have a really big challenge ahead of us Wednesday night at Cerro Coso,” Chaffey coach Jeff Klein said. “We’ll celebrate this one today but know it’s one at a time and Wednesday is a new day.”

Chaffey (17-2, 7-0 in the IEAC), ranked No. 14 in the CCCMBCA poll, has a onegame lead on Cerro Coso (16-3, 6-1) in the conference standings. MSJC (17-2, 5-2), ranked No. 6 in the Jan. 15 statewide poll, is now fourth in the conference standings.

Chaffey held a 25-16 lead after Uriyah Rojas sank a 3-pointer with 12:20 remaining in the first half. MSJC then went on a 10-2 run and closed the gap to a point after Dasean Stevens hit a pair of free throws. Chaffey led 30-28 when the 3-point shots started to fall for the Panthers.

Shadale Knight sank three triples in a two-minute span and Shaden Knight connected on the final two, pushing the lead to double digits at halftime. Chaffey was 8 for 14 (44.4%) from 3-point distance in the opening half.

MSJC was only 1 for 8 from 3-point range during the first half but stayed in the game with a 20-12 advantage in the paint.

“We like to play with pace, shoot the 3 and defend, and I really felt we wore them (MSJC) down,” Klein said. “What we were able to do today was, with two of our better players in foul trouble, not playing more than 10 minutes in that first half.

“We’re really gelling at the right time and this group has a chance to do some special things.”

The halftime break didn’t cool off the Panthers’ shooting, as Nate Simon, Elijah Goad, and Mourad Toure all made shots from beyond the arc, giving the Panthers a 68-53 lead with 12 minutes left.

Armani Battiste scored on a putback and helped MSJC cut Chaffey’s lead to 73-66 with 8:25 left, but the Eagles couldn’t get closer down the stretch.

Chaffey finished 14 for 27 from beyond the arc (51.9%), while MSJC made just 1 of 20 shots from 3-point range,

Shaden Knight led Chaffey with 20 points and five rebounds, while Shadale Knight finished with nine points with six assists. Brody Davis added 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Elijah Goad added 14 points. Marcus Green and Rosas each had 12 points for the Panthers.

Stevens led MSJC with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Isaiah Skinner added 17 points, while BJ Brown had 10 points and eight rebounds.

Next up, MSJC plays host to Barstow on Wednesday and Cerro Coso next Saturday. After Wednesday’s game at Cerro Coso in Ridgecrest, Chaffey returns home to play host to Victor Valley next Saturday.