By Brittain Kelly
After the biggest victory in Copper Mountain College basketball’s program history—beating the number one team in the state, Fullerton College—CMC men’s basketball team suffered its first-ever regular season loss at home, 77-67.
Copper Mountain hosted Riverside City College and both teams came into the game with identical records on the season. Unfortunately, Wednesday felt like the Twilight Zone for the CMC faithful. The Fighting Cacti started the game very lethargic and struggled to get going in the first half, as the Tigers of RCC maintained a three-point advantage at the half, 34-31. Copper Mountain’s struggles continued throughout the second half. CMC seemed out of sync offensively most of the night and missed the play of freshman wing and key player Dillon Voyles, who was out due to back spasms.
Hometown freshman Dshaun Barrett from Twentynine Palms had the hot hand for the Fighting Cacti with a team-high 20 points. Zack Kroker of Rancho Mirage added 15 points and eight rebounds, and Will Valsien chipped in 12 points in the losing effort.
Copper Mountain falls to 13-9 and 3-3 in the Orange Empire Conference.
Next up for CMC is their rematch against Santiago Canyon College next Wednesday. Tip-off is at 5 p.m. at Copper Mountain College.
