The Copper Mountain College Fighting Cacti defeated the Chaffey Panthers in a tight match up Saturday (January 29). A rough shooting night from three-point range and a formidable opponent had the Fighting Cacti looking for ways to control the game. The answers came on the defensive side of the ball. In one of their better defensive efforts all season, the Cacti held the Chaffey Panthers to 65 points on the night. The Cacti, who came into the contest averaging 78 points per game in conference play, managed just 67 on the night. That is all they would need though as the scoreboard read 67-65 at the final buzzer to move the Fighting Cacti to 5-1 in Inland Empire Athletic Conference play and stay in a tie for first with San Bernardino Valley College.
Tyler Hudson and Mikah Blackwell led the way for the Cacti on the offensive end with each contributing 19 points. Blackwell had 11 rebounds and Hudson and Blackwell tie for the team lead with 6 assists each. Hudson made 4 of the team’s 7 three-pointers on the night. Cris Dominguez had 8 points for the Cacti and was 2-5 from three. Israel Goldsmith and Nathan Kennedy each added 6. Chaffey’s active zone defense contributed to the Cacti only shooting 7-27 from deep on the night.
