MBB: Eagles Come Up Just Short at Chaffey

Corion Long had 19 points on Wednesday night, but the Eagles came up just short at Chaffey in their IEAC opener 104-89. (Jerry Lee Palad-MSJC)
Corion Long had 19 points on Wednesday night, but the Eagles came up just short at Chaffey in their IEAC opener 104-89. (Jerry Lee Palad-MSJC)

The MSJC men's basketball team nearly upended 17th ranked Chaffey on Wednesday as they opened Inland Empire Athletic Conference play but came up just short on the road 104-99.

The Eagles and the Panthers battled through an up and down game with both teams shooting over 50% in the contest. Chaffey held a 56-51 advantage at halftime, but MSJC rallied to take the lead with 14:59 to play in the game on a Gary Dotson 3-pointer to give the Eagles a 69-66 lead. The game went back-and-forth the rest of the way with the Panthers finally pulling ahead for good with just over 8 minutes to go.

Corion Long had a strong game off the bench for MSJC as he recorded a team high of 19 points, he made 5 three pointers in the loss. James Freeman IV added 17 points for MSJC while Adrian Mosley and Dotson both finished with 13 points. Elijah Edwards also reached double figures with 12. Mosley also had team highs of 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Uriyah Rojas led the way for the Panthers with a game-high 27 points.

The loss drops the Eagles record on the season to 3-9 overall and 0-1 in the IEAC. MSJC is back in action on Saturday when they host Copper Mountain at 3 pm.