By Jesus Coronel

The Riverside City College men’s basketball team lost to the Fullerton College Hornets 83-67 on Jan. 19.

The Tigers could not find an answer on defense to stop the No. 3 ranked team in the state which led to multiple fouls early in the game.

“We just didn’t execute on defense,” sophomore guard Melvin Walker said. “It led to a lot of wide open layups and back cuts.”

Throughout the first half, RCC’s fouls gave the Hornets several free throw opportunities that would stockpile into an eight-point lead heading into halftime.

RCC started the second half with a 13-7 run to get the game within four points at 52-48. But their lack of defense during Fullerton’s 10-3 run was too much to overcome as the Hornets kept scoring to eventually win by double digits.

“It was a total breakdown defensively,” Tigers Coach Philip Mathews said. “They came here to beat us.”

The loss drops the team’s record to 10-6 while being 3-2 in conference play.

Sophomore guard Amir Davis knows that the team could be playing better and improve on the loss.

“Just looking forward and not worrying about those games because it doesn’t matter now,” he said. “We just got to go forward.”

Their next game is on Jan. 24 at the Wheelock Gym against the Golden West Rustlers at 5 p.m.