The Fighting Cacti basketball team of Copper Mountain had everything going their way Friday night inside of the Bell center as the men’s team had a solid win against visiting Riverside City College. With the 86-72 win, Copper Mountain improved to 16-5 on the season and 3-1 in the Orange Empire Conference.
CMC rained three pointers and played gridlock defense to cruise to the Orange Empire Conference win. Tre’Von Bentley caught an Impressive “Alley Oop” reverse dunk to end the first half as Copper Mountain went into the half with a 38-27 lead. The sharp-shooting continued into the second half when Murshid Randle and Jailen Moore put on a shooting exhibition. Combined, they were responsible for 12 of the 14 three-pointers CMC made for the game, which helped propel them to the 86-72 win. Jailen Moore led the Fighting Cacti in scoring with 20 points. Murshid Randle Netted 18 points and Jaleel Simmons added 15 points.
The Copper Mountain College women’s basketball team took an unfortunate loss to Riverside City College, 83-18.
Assistant Coach Tess Urbas said the women played hard and kept their spirits up throughout the adversity.
“I’m really proud of them, they never seem to give up. They were able to execute our defense better than I’ve seen them play before. There have been improvements since the beginning of the season. The girls improve every day and we’re excited to continue playing and finish out the season on a good note.”
Tusitusia Brown scored 12 points, Courtney Stanford scored three points, Lalameleke Moliga had two points, and Celeste Reyes had one point.
