Hancock Men Fall 97-80 to No. 14 Fresno at Holiday Classic

Five Bulldogs scored 10 in double figures, but the Allan Hancock College men's basketball team could not keep up with Fresno City College in the second half in a 97-80 loss during the second day of the 51^st annual Holiday Classic on Tuesday evening. Hancock dropped to 8-8 overall, while Fresno, the 14^th ranked team in California, improved to 12-5.

After falling behind 32-24 with 5:50 to play in the first half, Hancock's Jeremiah Headley hit two three-pointers, Marcellus Garrick added two buckets and Isaac Willkomm sank a pair of free throws for the Bulldogs. Hancock trailed 39-38 at intermission.

Fresno City College dominated the second half by shooting 59 percent and outscored Hancock 58-42 in the final 20 minutes. Nick Hilton sank four three-pointers in the second half, as Hilton and Mike Crawley scored 14 points apiece in the final 20 minutes for Fresno.

Hilton finished with a team-high 17 points. BJ Shelton and Crawley had 16 points each, while DeAngelo Ashley finished with 14 points and nine rebounds for Fresno.

Malik Rhodes led the Bulldogs with 19 points and hit six of 13 shots from the field. Isaac Willkomm scored a career-high 12 points for Hancock. Shane Carney added 11 points, while Matt Willkomm and Emilio Gonzalez finished with 10 points apiece for the Bulldogs.

Isaac Willkomm hit four of six from the field, including two of his four shots from three-point range to set a career-high in scoring. 

Headley added with six points, five assists and six rebounds.

Fresno shot 54 percent for the game and hit 36 percent of its three-point shots. The Rams sank 59 percent of their free throws by hitting 23 of 39. Hancock made 12 of its 22 free throws and hit 55 percent of its shots overall from the field.

Earlier on Tuesday, No. 13 Bakersfield got back on track with a 65-54 win over Cerritos. The Renegades improved to 10-3 and Cerritos dropped to 8-7. Deandre Dickson led the Renegades with 24 points and 13 rebounds. Jamelk Riviere added 20 points, five boards, six assists and five steals.

Cuesta, the 17^th ranked team in California, improved to 13-5 with a 62-52 win over Rio Hondo. Rio Hondo fell to 7-11. The game was tied 22-22 at the half, but Cuesta outscored Rio Hondo 40-30 in the second half. Karem Ozel led the Cougars with 18 points. Roberto Mantovani added nine points, four steals and 15 rebounds. 

The three-day event ends on Wednesday with three more games. Cerritos will play Rio Hondo at 1 p.m., Cuesta will face Fresno at 3 p.m., and Hancock will close the tournament against Bakersfield at 5 p.m.