By John M. Sherrard
After dropping the opening game to Mt. San Jacinto College (83-71), who eventually won the tournament, the Mounties won the next two games to claim the consolation title. Mt. SAC defeated Barstow College on Saturday, 82-73.
Mountie sophomore guard Ryon O'Quinn and sophomore guard Charlie Evans IV led the team in the Barstow win with 23 and 19 points respectively.
In the consolation championship game the Mounties had a slim three-point lead over OCC, 36-33, at the half but outscored the Pirates by fifteen points in the second half to win going away.
The Mounties nearly had three players with 20 points in the game as sophomore Isaiah Watson (7 of 9 FG, 5-6 FT) poured in 20 points, while O'Quinn (5 of 6 FG, 8-9 FT, 11 assists) had 18 points and freshman guard Josh Johnson (8 of 13 FG, 12 RB) added 17.
O'Quinn leads the team with a 13.9 points per game average.
As a team the Mounties shot a game-high 60.4% from the field and grabbed 40 rebounds, 31 of which were defensive.
Also scoring for the Mounties was sophomore Ashton McLaurin (3 for 3 FG, 5 RB, 2 blk) with nine points, sophomore guard Jason Jamie with seven points and Evans with six.
With the win on Sunday over OCC, Mt. SAC upped its record to 6-4 and will prepare for the annual Mountie Classic, Dec. 2-4.
The Mounties open up with Middlebrook College on Friday at 7:00 pm.
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For additional information, please contact the Mt. SAC Sports Information Office at 909.274.4630.