By Jair Ramirez

The Riverside City College men’s basketball team lacked energy and poise in their final preseason game against Palomar College.

“A total disaster,” RCC men’s basketball coach Philip Mathews said. “They came in here and took our heart, they took everything.” 

Palomar simply out hustled RCC at both ends of the court, running up and down the court and attacking the basket.

“We didn’t play as hard as we should have,” freshman guard Micheal Brooks said.

‘’We came out with a little intensity but then we let up,” sophomore guard Darius McClain said. “It was unacceptable.”

Palomar came ready to play, crashing the boards and grabbing rebounds creating lots of second chance points which completely took RCC out of the game.

The Comets went into halftime leading 51-39.

Poor shot selection was a contributing factor in the game, as RCC didn’t open up the court and let players find space for good open shots.

The Tigers came out strong in the second half cutting the lead in half after two quick three-pointers with 18 minutes left in the game.

The Comets defense and three-point shooting picked up in the second half, helping them take charge of the game.

RCC tried to keep up with Palomar’s pace and was putting up shots too quickly as if the shot clock was expiring almost every possession in the second half.

“They just outplayed us. They played a lot tougher, a lot harder than us,” Brooks said. “It was a wake up call.”

Palomar outscored RCC 49-25 for the rest of the game to win 100-70.

“They played hard, we didn’t,” Mathews said. “This is a young team and I don’t think they understand yet what it takes to win games.” 

RCC opens up the regular season at Ventura College on Nov. 2 in the We Play Hard Tournament.