The Copper Mountain College Fighting Cacti men’s basketball team had a thriller inside the Bell Center Friday night as they took on visiting Cypress College, securing an overtime victory, 75-70. With the win, Copper Mountain stays perfect at home, and improves to 17-7 on the season and 4-3 in Orange Empire Conference play.
In the first half, CMC jumped out to a slight lead and seemed to take control of the game. After a couple of three pointers, Cypress knotted things up at 35 points apiece going into halftime. The second half was full of excitement as both teams exchanged baskets and stayed neck and neck all the way through regulation, forcing overtime. In the extra period, CMC came up with multiple defensive stops and made some clutch free throws to secure the victory, 75-70.
Tre’Von Bentley had a big time double-double and led the Fighting Cacti in scoring with 23 points. Murshid Randle added 17 points and Rosemond Alexis Chipped in 12 points.
The Copper Mountain women’s basketball Fighting Cacti also hosted Cypress College at the Bell Center on Friday evening, losing 90-28.
Coach Hosie Ward said it was a relatively close contest for the first quarter with Cypress holding a 17–10 lead after the first 10 minutes. However, after CMC’s leading scorer and rebounder, Tusitusia Brown reinjured her wrist and picked up her third foul late in the second quarter, they began to pull away. The halftime score was 39–15. They went on to win the game 90–28. Courtney Stanford led in scoring with 10 points. Despite a bad wrist and foul trouble, Brown added nine points and nine rebounds, along with five blocks.
