Hancock Drops Opener of Home Motors Tournament 75-66 to Ohlone

Despite career highs in points and rebounds from freshman Spirit Ricks, the Allan Hancock College men's basketball team fell 75-66 to Ohlone College in the first round of Hancock's third annual Home Motors Tournament on Friday evening. The Bulldogs, who beat Ohlone last weekend on their way to a tournament title, fell to 4-3 after dropping their home opener. Ohlone improved to 2-2. Hancock will play Santa Barbara at 3 p.m. Saturday in Joe White Memorial Gymnasium in the consolation semifinals.

Ricks led the Bulldogs with 16 points and 14 rebounds to record his second straight double-double. Sophomore guard Shane Carney added 13 points and two steals.

Hancock took the lead early in the first-round game, but the Bulldogs went cold allowing Ohlone to build a 38-31 lead at halftime. Ohlone hit 54 percent of its shots from the field in the first half, and hit six 3-point buckets. The Bulldogs shot 32 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes. Carney scored 10 of his 13 points in the first half.

The Bulldogs battled back in the second half. Three free throws from freshman Glenn Jordan tied it 52-52 with 7:48 to play. The game remained tied 53-53 with 6:38 to play, when Ohlone went on an 8-0 run over the next 75 seconds to take the lead for good 61-53.

Ohlone shot 43 percent from the floor on the night, compared to 40 percent for Hancock. The Bulldogs went 5-for-17 from 3-point range (29 percent) and 15-for-24 (62 percent) from the free-throw line. Ohlone hit 24 of its 37 free throws (65 percent) and hit seven 3-pointers on 21 attempts.

Freshman Trenton Mitchell finished with eight points and eight rebounds, while Jordan added nine points and three assists. The Bulldogs also received seven points and eight rebounds from Devin Davis.

Four Renegades scored 13 or more points. Bryce Thompson led the team with 15 points, while Richard Oryem added 14.

The Bulldogs committed 20 turnovers that led to 30 Ohlone points.

Earlier today, Victor Valley topped Cuesta 64-59 despite seven 3-pointers and 21 points from Josh Wilson-Murry. Copper Mountain, ranked No. 14 in the preseason state poll, defeated No. 17 Yuba 83-77 thanks to 19 points from Murshid Randle. Santa Barbara fell 95-77 to Napa in the final game of the day. Aaron Mejia led the Vaqueros with 28 points.

On Saturday, Cuesta will face Yuba in the consolation semifinals at 1 p.m. followed by the Bulldogs and Santa Barbara 3 p.m. Victor Valley will face Copper Mountain at 5 p.m. in the championship semifinal, while Napa and Ohlone will follow at 7 p.m.

The three-day tournament ends Sunday.